Cradle and All
by Amanda Hawthorn
Summary: Sequel to When the Bough Breaks. Fiona and Michael adjust to the new situation in their lives. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Burn Notice or these characters don't belong to me unfortunately**

**Rating: T**

**AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed When the Bough Breaks. As promised here is the sequel.**

**I'd like to send special thanks to Purdys Pal who helped me deal with my mini meltdown when I sent her first drafts of this. **

Cradle and All

Michael jolted awake and opened his eyes with a start. Turning onto his side, he reached out, expecting to find Fiona's warm body, but instead the bed was empty.

Sitting up, he climbed out of bed and pulled on his pyjama bottoms. His eyes flittered around the moonlit loft, trying to find her in the silvery darkness. "Fi?"

"In here," her voice sounded a little rough, and when he heard the toilet flush he walked towards the open bathroom door. He was totally unprepared to see her looking so pale and everything he'd planned to say to her suddenly disappeared.

"You look awful," he told her worriedly as he wrapped an arm around her to guide her towards the sink. Picking up her toothbrush he placed a line of minty toothpaste onto the brush before handing it to her.

Smiling gratefully, she took the brush from his hand and bent over the sink, taking comfort from the heat from his fingers as he rubbed her back. When she was finished, he ignored her protests and put his arm around her to guide her out of the bathroom and through the loft towards the bed. All the while keeping his worried gaze fixed on her pale features.

"Are you okay?" He asked when he sat them both down into the edge of the mattress.

Fiona tried to offer him a smile but all she could manage was a slight nod as she leant against his shoulder. She was grateful for his presence and more than happy to see him. The last few hours were becoming a blur in her mind and now that he was here beside her, she didn't want to remember anything except how good he made her feel.

"I got sick again," she groaned as she gravitated towards his warmth. There was something soothing about being wrapped up in his tenderness. "That's the fourth time tonight."

"Oh Fi," he sighed, stroking her arm lightly with his fingertips. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"You need to be alert when you go for your meeting," she sighed tiredly. "You've waited a long time for it."

"That doesn't stop me being here when you need me," he told her as his fingers traced patterns up and down her arm. "Do you need me to get you anything?"

Fiona shook her head and closed her eyes, leaning into his chest.

"I'm fine," she told him with a small smile when she unconsciously laid a hand over her stomach. "But, how many times can one person throw up in one night?"

Michael smiled sympathetically as he tucked her head beneath his chin. "I don't really know much about morning sickness," he sighed.

"Urgh," she groaned, wrapping her arms around him waist. "I wouldn't mind if it was just morning…but it's daytime…night time…any damn time…"

"Maybe you should ask my mom." He suggested sensitively, trying to soothe her with his touch.

"She told me to eat crackers…but how can I eat crackers when I throw up everything I eat…"

"I know," he soothed as he planted soft kisses into her hair. "We could call the doctor, maybe he can give you something…"

"No," pushing herself up so that she could see his eyes, she smiled despite her rolling stomach. "Other women cope with this. So can I."

"Okay," he told her softly as he manoeuvred them to lie back against the pillows and wrapping her in his arms. "I wish I'd listened more when Nate told me about Ruth and her morning sickness. I didn't really pay much attention."

Fiona lifted her head to smile weakly up at him, "Not the kind of thing a spy really wants to know?"

"Maybe not then," he told her as he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. "But this is you and _our_ baby, so I wish I'd have paid more attention."

"That's good to know," she told him, leaning into him again. "I'm so tired."

Leaning down he placed feather light kisses over her forehead while his fingers played with the ends of her hair.

"Try and sleep," he told her, running his fingers in circles over her back.

Nodding silently, she couldn't help the sudden sting of tears that gathered in her eyes. "I'm so glad you're here."

"I'll always be here," he told her softly.

She was silent for a long time and Michael thought she had dozed off, but her voice caught him by surprise.

"Michael?"

"I thought you were asleep," he kept his voice low and held her to his chest a little tighter.

"Are you scared?" she asked quietly, her voice no more than a whisper.

"Terrified," he admitted on a sigh. He kissed her forehead again and inclined his head so that he could see her eyes in the darkness. "But we handle bombs and weapons on a daily basis, I'm sure we can handle a baby between us."

"Yeah," she agreed softly as she turned her head to place a kiss onto his bare chest. Shifting her body slightly she wrapped her arms around him and sighed against his skin

"What are you thinking?" he asked as he planted tiny kisses against her temple.

"We're really doing this aren't we?" she asked him, turning slightly to meet his eyes.

"Yes, we are," he whispered, his fingers brushing a strand of hair away from her eyes. "We're going to be okay."

Fiona kept her eyes on his as she slid her hand over his torso. "Can you even imagine us as parents?" she asked him, "Poor child."

"At least he or she will be able to take care of themselves," he smirked, unable to keep the happiness from his eyes.

"I can teach her how to make explosives," she chuckled. "She'll be transporting pipe bombs in her stroller instead of playing with dolls."

"I'll teach her self defence," he told her seriously. "If she's anything like her mother she'll have a long line of boys queuing up at the door."

"What about if it's a boy?" she asked with a bright smile. "I hope he has your chin."

"My chin?" he asked questioningly, glancing down at her.

"He'll need it when he pisses off his girlfriend!" her face lit up when he looked at her, her mischievous laughter causing his own lips to turn up into a smile.

"Maybe I should teach him how _not_ to piss off his girlfriend," he laughed, pulling her to his chest and planting soft kisses against her forehead.

They were silent for a few moments before she spoke again. "Were you serious when you said we should move?"

Michael's hand stilled in her hair and he turned onto his side, pulling her around so she was facing him. "Yes, I was…why, have you changed your mind?"

"I like it here," she sighed. "It's the first real home we've ever had together…"

"But it's not the last," leaning forward, he placed a soft kiss onto her forehead. "We need somewhere solid for the three of us. I want somewhere safe for you and the baby when I'm away."

"Is there such a place?" she asked with a heavy sigh, knowing that there would be times when he got back in that his job with the government would take him away from home.

"There will be, Fi," he told her as he ran a hand sensuously over her arms. "Working for the government will have its…perks."

"I hope so," her voice broke into a yawn and she snuggled closer into his warmth. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to relax against him, letting the beat of his heart lull her to sleep.

000

When they arrived at Madeline's the next morning they were both surprised when the door swung open to reveal a very dishevelled Sam urging them inside.

"What's going on?" Michael asked when he came around the car to take Fiona's bag from her, ignoring the spark of annoyance that flashed in her eyes.

"Your mom's getting antsy, Mike," Sam huffed. "She swears she saw a mouse run behind the refrigerator and apparently it was my job to find it!"

Fiona shook her head and pushed past Sam to enter the house, calling Madeline's name as she went.

"Is she okay?" Sam asked Michael when he went with him to the trunk of the car to pull a large duffel bag out.

"She's cranky," Michael told him. "She didn't get a lot of sleep."

"Pregnancy's a bitch ain't it brother," Sam grinned as he took the bag from Michael's hands. "What the hell did you pack in this?" Sam grumbled as he moved closer to the door. "Did you bring everything from the loft?"

"For your information _Sam_, if I have to stay here while Michael is away, then I need my…_stuff_…" Fiona huffed when she appeared at the door again. Reaching out to take the smaller bag from Michael's hands, she shot him a glare when he snatched it away.

"I told you I could carry that one," she told him haughtily, attempting to shoot him an angry glare but failed miserably.

"You're pregnant," he told her firmly.

"I'm not disabled. I can still carry things on my own." Folding her arms across her chest.

Michael sighed heavily when he saw her watching him and nodded slowly before reaching out to put his free arm around her, squeezing her shoulder. "I know. I just want to take care of you, that's all."

"I know you do," she whispered against his ear. "But you have to let me carry on as normal. My life can't just stop because of the baby."

"So Fi," Sam asked, his voice interrupting their affectionate haze when he unzipped the heavy duffel bag to look inside. "Since when does making explosives become part of a sleepover?"

"I need to keep busy," she hissed at him as she moved away from Michael to push Sam's hands out of the way to re-zip the bag.

"Fi…" Michael's voice slowed with frustration, "we talked about this!"

"What?" she huffed. "Do you expect me just to sit around here and do nothing while you're away?"

"No, I expected you to rest."

"Well I—" her voice suddenly died on her lips when a bout of dizziness washed over her. Reaching out to him again, she grasped hold of his hands and closed her eyes.

"Fi, what's wrong?" His voice rose worriedly and she opened her eyes again and tried to focus on him.

"Just a little dizzy," she told him softly. "It'll pass in a minute."

"Come on," he handed the bag he was carrying to Sam and moved an arm around her shoulders as he guided her into his mother's house.

Madeline was there in an instant, hovering around them when Michael led her towards the couch. "What happened?"

"She's a little dizzy," Michael told her quickly. "Mom, can you get her some water?"

"I'm okay…" she shook her head. "I just need to sit down."

"Okay," he nodded worriedly as he hovered over her. "Are you sure this is supposed to happen? That's at least three times today that you've had to sit down because of this."

"I know as much as you do," she groaned, lying back onto the couch. "It wasn't like this last time."

"Maybe we should call the doctor and have him check you over." Madeline offered, casting Michael an anxious gaze.

"I'm fine."

Sam came into the room and dropped all the bags inside the doorway. He regarded the young woman's pale face before moving closer for a better look at her.

"I don't know Fi, you look kinda peaky."

"Yeah, well…" she started, a sarcastic reply already forming in her mind when the room suddenly started to spin. "Michael—" her voice echoed in her head and the last thing she saw before she passed out was his eyes grow wide with panic.

tbc


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you to everyone for their reviews, PM's and favourite story adds. I very much appreciate it.**

**Thanks also to Purdy's Pal and DaisyDay for their help with this chapter. **

**My youngest is 14 now, so it's a few years since I have been pregnant. I know some pregnancy terms are different in the USA to what they are here. But I hope I've managed to get most of the terms right.**

2

Voices floated in and out of Fiona's consciousness. She could feel the unmistakable touch of Michael's hand clutching hers, squeezing her fingers when she blinked heavily before she opened her eyes.

"Fi…" Michael's relieved voice drifted through her mind and she turned her head to focus on him.

"M…Michael…" she managed, trying to offer him a smile when he shifted closer to perch on the sofa beside her.

"I'm here," he told her as he clutched her hand to his chest. Reaching out with his free hand, he smoothed his shaking fingers over her face to stroke her cheek.

"What happened?" she asked in a voice that sounded foreign to her own ears. She could see by his red-rimmed eyes that something was wrong and instantly panic burrowed its way inside her mind. Fearing the worst, tears sprang to her eyes, and she shook her head, her voice catching on a sob. "No_…please…_not again…"

"What?" Michael gasped, leaning over her to gather her trembling body in his arms as she shook against him. "No, everything's okay…the baby's fine…shhh."

"But…"

"You fainted," he told her, whispering into her hair. "Sam called in a favour and he's found someone who's going to help. He wants to talk to you."

Fiona pulled back from him so that she could look up into his eyes. "The baby?"

"Is doing okay," he told her gently as he shifted to touch his forehead against hers. His fingers combed through her hair and he placed a soft kiss onto her skin, holding her hands close to his chest.

"Fiona?"

Fiona tore her eyes away from the man she loved to regard the stranger standing beside her, eyeing him warily. When he knelt down beside the sofa Michael instinctively moved closer to her when she grabbed a handful of his shirt.

"Fi, this is Peter Manson, he's an old friend of Sam's. He's going to be helping us." Michael told her reassuringly.

Fiona pushed herself up a little and watched the older man cautiously. "Are you a doctor?"

"I was a field medic back in the day, but now I'm a family practitioner," he nodded while he reached into his bag to pull a small device out of his bag. "I need to check a few things with you but first I want to make sure everything is okay with the baby. This is a fetal Doppler; it'll let you hear the baby's heartbeat. I just need you to lie flat."

Michael moved from the couch and helped her lay back down before switching places with the doctor, his hand finding hers again. They both watched when he moved Fiona's shirt up to her chest to press the device against her slightly rounded abdomen.

For a moment the sounds emmited from it sounded like static, but then a strong, fast heartbeat came through the speakers loud and clear, causing Madeline to stub her cigarette out into an ashtray in the kitchen and come into the room.

Her face lit up into one big smile and she turned to catch Sam's wonder filled gaze. When he saw her watching him, he cleared his throat and quickly swiped at his eyes.

"_Something in my eye_," he mouthed silently before regaining his composure and focusing on his beer.

"Sure you do, Sam," she told him with a beaming smile, wiping the moisture from her own damp eyes.

Fiona looked back up at Michael to see his gaze fixed on her stomach. The awe on his face was like nothing she had ever seen in him before, and when he turned to place a soft kiss onto her lips she couldn't stop the lone tear that slipped down over her cheek.

Neither of them spoke as the doctor moved the device around her abdomen, listening intently to the sounds coming from within. When he was satisfied, he pulled it away and turned it off to replace it back into his bag. Turning back to Fiona again, he knelt over her and pressed his hands down onto her stomach pushing down into her skin, causing her to scrunch her eyes closed and grip Michael's hand hard.

"You're about ten weeks, but a sonogram will give a more acurate date," he told them when he removed his hands, "and the baby has a good, strong heartbeat."

"Ten weeks? I thought it was just stress…it didn't even register that I was late…" Fiona's eyes sought Michael's incredulous gaze. "That means I was pregnant when…"

"I know," Micheal stroked his thumb over her forehead and nodded numbly. "If Sam hadn't shown up when he did, then the three of us would have—"

"But we didn't," she told him quickly, reaching up to lay her hand across his face. "We're all still here."

Doctor Manson caught Sam's incredulous glance and turned his attention back to the couple who seemed to have forgotten that everyone else was in the room.

"I take it you don't intend to have this baby at a conventional hospital?"

Michael's eyes left Fiona's and flashed an imploring look at the man before him.

"Didn't Sam explain the situation?" Michael asked him quickly. This was one of the reasons that they had talked about possible pregnancies in the past. While he was unprotected and still officially burned, any enemies they had could easily use his relationship with Fiona and their unborn child against him.

"Yes he did," he nodded. "It's not my usual method of pre-natal care…"

"Until I am officially reinstated, Fiona's condition has to be kept just between us for as long as we can."

"Pete understands the circumstances Mikey," Sam told him reassuringly, coming closer to pat him on the shoulder.

"Yes, I do," Doctor Manson nodded before turning his attention back to Fiona. "So, you have had bouts of sickness as well as dizzy spells?"

"Yes," she nodded worriedly as she grabbed onto Michael's arm as leverage to sit up. Instantly, the room started to spin and she scrunched her eyes closed, gasping in a breath until the dizziness subsided.

Michael was by her side in an instant, rubbing her back as he cast the doctor a panicked gaze. "Is this normal?"

"I'm afraid every woman is different. Some woman sail through pregnancy and others, well, it can be rough the first trimestor…Are you eating healthily?"

"I'm trying to," she told him honestly, "but sometimes I can't even keep water down…and the dizziness started a couple of days ago."

"Try taking small sips," the doctor told her. "The dizziness will pass, but you can help yourself by resting as much as you can. I'll take your blood pressure and I'll draw some blood today just to be sure."

"What do you mean by resting, exactly?" Fiona asked cautiously, feeling Michael's eyes upon her. "Stop looking at me like that Michael. I can't spend the entire time sat down."

"Fi," Michael sighed. "For once, will you just not argue?"

"I'm not arguing," she told him with a knowing smile. "You know I relax better when I'm doing something!"

"Fiona," Michael's voice warned, even though he knew by her smile that she wasn't going to be doing anything strenuous to put their baby at risk.

"I'm going to give you some pre-natal vitamins," the doctor told her, his voice bringing their attention back to him, as he took his prescription pad out of his bag and began to write. "Have small meals throughout the day. Most of my patients find eating dry crackers every few hours helps with the sickness, and ginger ale is good at settling the stomach…and no, by resting I mean take things slower, not that you have to sit down for the entire pregnancy!"

"So she's okay?" Michael asked in relief, his eyes seeking Fiona's hopeful gaze.

"Yes, everything is perfectly normal." He turned his attention to Fiona again. "Michael told me you had a miscarriage some time ago?" he asked. "Do you know how far along you were?"

"I don't know," she shook her head. "Not far I don't think. I never had anything like I'm having now…why…does that mean I might lose—"

"No," reaching out he patted her hand. "It's just for my records. But from now on I do need to see you every four weeks. I need to schedule a sonogram and check your blood work, but we can do them after clinic hours if you're worried…"

"Thank you," Michael told him. "We really do appreciate this."

Doctor Manson handed Michael the prescription and regarded Fiona's pale face. "I want to see you for a sonogram within the next two weeks. I'll arrange it and call you with the details."

"Just one more thing, doctor," Michael started, intending to ask about things they should avoid, when the doctor pulled out a band and vacuum syringe to draw Fiona's blood.

"It's perfectly safe to continue to have intercourse, but—" he started, without looking up at them.

"Michael," Madeline stopped the doctor in mid-sentence and moved closer to pat Michael on the shoulder, there were some things that a mother didn't really need to hear. "Sam and I will be out in the yard if you need us."

"Thanks ma," Michael nodded, his eyes not leaving the woman beside him.

Madeline motioned for Sam to join her, and the two of them went outside into the sunshine.

"Is she okay?" Sam asked as he nursed his beer.

"As far as I can tell, yeah," she sighed. Lifting a cigarette to her lips, she lit it and took a long drag before blowing the smoke out into the air. "I swear, those two will be the death of me."

"Me too Maddie," taking a long swig of beer, he swallowed the liquid down and raised the glass bottle to his forehead, trying to cool himself down. "I swear, since those two have been together I've aged thirty years!"

"It shows," Madeline told him with a beaming smile, something she couldn't seem to stop doing lately. "Just kidding!"

"That's not funny Maddie," Sam groused. "I'm hurt."

"Yeah?" she laughed. "You'll get over it!"

000

Fiona was bored. Sam was out with one of his new lady friends, and even though she would never openly admit it, she missed his annoyingly witty wisecracks. He seemed to be able to take her mind off of the fact that she was missing Michael since he'd left for his meeting with management four days ago. She had been spending most of her time helping Madeline around the house and trying to keep busy. The sickness was still wearing her down, but after taking the doctor's advice she'd managed to eat small meals without rushing to the bathroom a few minutes later.

Her hand drifted down to her stomach as she tried to reassure the tiny life that grew inside her. Maybe it was just her hormones, or maybe she was just a little restless but her mind kept drifting back to the day before Michael left. He had drawn up some kind of backup plan with Sam, and asked him to take care of things while he was away.

She moved to the wooden dresser and pulled open the top draw, running her fingers over the clothes that he'd left behind. She wished she could stop feeling like this. Her moods constantly shifted from happiness to tears within minutes of each other and it was playing havoc with her emotions. Tears blurred her vision and her mind wandered back, once again, to that day.

"_Why don't you let me do that?" he'd asked__ as she'd taken some__ of his clothes out of the bedroom dresser that Madeline had insisted they used, and put them onto the bed. "You're supposed to be taking it easy."_

"_I'm fine," she sighed heavily as she re-folded his t-shirts to pack them into the large bag that they'd brought with them. "But I'm warning you, if you're not back within a week I'm going home. The dizziness isn't as bad anymore."_

"_Fi, I thought we agreed." Walking around the bed to stand behind her, he'd placed his hands on her shoulders. "I don't know how long this meeting is going to take so I want you to stay here with my mom while I'm away. You know how much she wants to spend time with you."_

"_I'm not an invalid," she'd snapped as she zipped up the large bag in frustration. "I don't need a babysitter. I'll be more comfortable at home."_

"_I need to know that you're safe," he told her, turning her around so that he could see her eyes. "Please, just do this for me, Fi…"_

_She turned, ready to snipe at him, but the smile he gave her melted away all the tension and she found herself reaching for his hand on her shoulder, lacing their fingers together. "I'm pregnant, Michael. Women do this kind of thing all the time."_

"_Not with me they don't." The smile spread wider across his face as he'd watched her expression change to one of amusement, a smile matching his own appearing on her lips. _

_Fiona sighed heavily and leaned across to place a soft kiss on his lips. _

"_Try not to leave me so long this time! And please come back for the sonogram, I don't want to have to take your mother with me…or Sam!" _

"_I promise," he'd told her, flashing her a wide grin before he'd taken the bag off of the bed and guided them both down onto the mattress…_

Moving towards the full-length mirror in Michael's old room, Fiona turned to her side and pulled her yellow sundress tight over her stomach. She turned in a few different positions, trying to see any obvious signs that she was pregnant, but apart from her breasts growing noticeably larger, her stomach remained only slightly rounded.

With a heavy sigh she flopped down onto the bed and blew her hair out of her eyes. She didn't do boredom well, but the call of the old garage, and all of her special _toys_ was becoming too much to resist. If she couldn't do anything to exert herself, sitting down and _tinkering_ couldn't hurt…could it?

Madeline was reading a magazine when she made her way through the kitchen. She lifted her eyes and beamed a smile at her. "Hey sweetheart. You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I guess," Fiona sighed before pulling a chair out at the table to sit down next to Madeline. "Have you heard from Sam?"

"Not since this morning, no," Madeline told her as she put the magazine down onto the table, regarding her knowingly. "What's wrong honey?

"I need to be doing something other than sitting here," she grumbled before moving the chair back to slowly stand up. "I'll be in the…" she gestured towards the old garage as she moved away from the table.

Madeline's observed her fondly as she reached out for her cigarette box and pushed it aside. "Need any help?"

"Not exactly," Fiona told her with a smile. "But you can come keep me company."

An hour later, Sam returned to the house after Michael had called him, asking him to check on Fiona when she hadn't answered his calls. When he walked inside he found it strangely quiet and he was instantly on high alert. Madeline's car was still in the drive and the door was unlocked. Panic set in his mind and he drew his gun, scanning the room warily as he moved further into the house.

"Maddie," he called. "Fi…"

Muffled laughter was coming from the old garage and he cautiously made his way towards it, uncertain what he was going to find.

The sight that greeted him took him by surprise. Fiona and Madeline were sitting at the table that was piled high with everything from soldering irons to screw drivers.

"What the hell is going on in here?" he asked in exasperation, waving his hands in the air, pointing an accusing finger at Fiona. "You're supposed to be resting, not…_what_ are you doing?"

"I'm fine Sam," Fiona grinned, shifting slightly in her seat. "Look, I'm sitting down…_and_ I'm making a tracking device for Madeline."

"Yeah, Sam, zip it," Madeline shot him a glare. "I've got a problem and Fiona's helping me deal with it."

"With a tracker?" he asked incredulously as he tucked his gun back into the waistband of his pants.

Fiona shot him a look that told him not to ask questions, so he sighed in resignation and turned back to walk out of the door.

"Oh, Fi…"

When she looked up to meet his eyes he was suddenly taken aback by the fondness in her gaze. It threw him momentarily, but he regained his composure and shook his head.

"You might want to check your phone and finish up in here. Mike's been trying to call you, he's on his way home and he's bringing Jesse with him."

"What?" she gasped as she pushed her chair back and stood up quickly, regretting it instantly when sudden dizziness overtook her body. Reaching out, she gripped onto the edge of the table until it had passed.

"You okay, honey?" Madeline asked worriedly, coming to hold onto her arm.

"I'm fine," Fiona nodded gratefully and reached out to squeeze Madeline's hand. "I just got up too quickly. I'm okay now."

Madeline watched her carefully as she turned to walk past Sam and out of the room to go in search of her phone.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Sam asked as soon as she was out of sight.

"Of course she is, Sam," Madeline told him as she put a cigarette to her lips and lit it gratefully. "I've been craving for one of these for over an hour."

"It's not like you to pass up on a smoke, Maddie," he told her seriously.

"Well, Fi needed me more," she told him, taking another long blissful drag from her cigarette.

"You're doing a great job, Maddie," he told her with a fond smile. "Mikey's gonna be here soon, maybe we should, I don't know…make her sit or something."

Madeline's eyes lit up with his words and she couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips. "She's fine Sam, stop worrying... you're as bad as that son of mine!"

"Yeah, well. I can't help it…she drives me crazy."

"She's pregnant Sam," Madeline laughed. "Of course she drives you crazy!"

Walking past him, she patted his arm as she moved into the kitchen. "Let's go and find you a cold beer."

Sam sighed heavily, god help him, but he was becoming quite fond of the Irish firecracker that had stormed back into Michael's life four years ago. But he'd never openly admit it. No way….

tbc


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thank you again for all of your reviews, personal messages and story adds. I appreciate every one**

3

Fiona walked into Michael's old room and looked around for her elusive cell phone. Her heart was racing at the prospect of having Michael home again. Moving towards the bed she threw back the covers and looked under the pillows, before finally finding what she was looking for.

She picked it up and turned on the call history, surprised to see seven missed calls, all from Michael. She felt like a teenager, her heart fluttering at the idea of seeing him again and didn't even think twice as her finger hit the return call button.

"Michael," she breathed his name as she sat down onto the bed, leaning back against the pillows as his voice washed over her.

"_Fi, where have you been? I've been calling for hours."_

"I'm sorry, I was with your mom and forgot I'd left my phone in the bedroom," she smiled. "How did it go? Did you get the result you wanted?"

"_In a way…I'll tell you when I get there okay? How are you feeling?"_

"Tired," she sighed. "I haven't gotten a lot of sleep since you've been gone…"

"_Why? Are you okay?"_ his voice rose a notch with worry and she couldn't help but smile.

"I'm fine," she told him softly. "I just find it hard to sleep without you."

"_Me too."_ Even though he was talking via a phone she could see his face in her mind and that brought her some sense of comfort.

"How long till you get here?" she asked, keeping her voice low.

"_Another half hour, maybe forty minutes,"_ he sighed. _"Jesse's driving us from the airport."_

Fiona couldn't help the soft chuckle that left her lips. "Or an hour! He drives like your mother!" In the background she could hear Jesse's voice shouting hello and for the first time in just under a week, she couldn't wait to go home to the loft.

She heard his muffled voice as he said something to Jesse and was suddenly dismayed by the unexpected sting of tears in her eyes. Swallowing hard, she tried to force the lump that had formed in her throat, away, but all she managed to do was highlight the fact that she was crying.

"_Fi,"_ his voice was soft as he spoke her name, but it only succeeded in making her cry harder. _"What's wrong?"_

"I don't know," she wiped her eyes and tried to stop the flow of tears from spilling over her cheeks. "Damn hormones…"

"_I'll be there soon,"_ his voice lowered to a whisper and she could almost see him willing Jesse to drive faster. _"Okay?"_

"Okay," she sniffed. "I miss you."

"_Me too, Fi,"_ he told her. _"Me too."_

His voice soothed her senses and as she lay there listening to him talking, she didn't even realise that her eyes were closing.

000

"Where's Fi?" Michael asked urgently when he rushed into his mother's house just under an hour later.

"Relax sweetheart," Madeline told him as she got up to greet him. "After you called Sam, he went in to check on her and she was sound asleep."

"I'm going to see her," he moved to walk past her but she reached out to stop him when Jesse and Sam came through the door in deep conversation.

Lowering her voice, Madeline pulled him slightly to the side. "Does Jesse know about Fiona?"

"No," he told her, keeping his voice low. "We'll tell him when we have to, but there's only us and my old handler that know."

"Didn't you tell us that was dangerous, Michael?" she asked him shakily as she took a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket.

"He needed to know why I had to come back in such a hurry," he told her. "And he needed to know that _if_ I choose to work for them again, it'll be on _my_ terms."

"I thought getting your old job back was what you wanted Michael," Madeline told him, catching his eyes with her concerned gaze.

"My priorities have changed," he told her as his lips turned up into a wide smile. "Can I go now…I need to see—"

"Michael…" Fiona's voice broke when she saw him, her hormones rampaging throughout her body. She was rooted to the spot and gazing at him like he was something from her dreams.

His face lit up at the sight of her. Moving towards her, he forgot about everyone else in the room as he swept her into a tight embrace, lifting her from the floor before replacing her just as quickly.

"Hi," he grinned, gazing down at her adoringly as she lifted her head and captured his lips in a long lingering kiss. He wound his arms around her; one hand burying itself in her hair while the other roamed her shoulders. Fiona moulded her body against his as they kissed, but when the need to breathe caused a frustrating distraction; she broke away from him with a gasp. Both of them stared at the other with a mixture of relief and total joy. Michael leaned his forehead against hers and fought to steady his pounding heartbeat. He had missed her so much.

They gravitated together again; needing each others touch as much as they needed to breathe. Fiona lost herself in him, his kisses intoxicating. Every other thought melted from her mind to leave nothing but him, mind, body and soul.

They broke apart breathlessly, gazing into each other's eyes with total adoration, unaware of the small audience that were watching them at the other side of the room.

It was Sam's dramatic clearing of his throat that finally pulled them apart, both of them turning, holding onto each other as they turned to face the others in the room.

Fiona's face was flushed and her eyes were sparkling when she pulled away from Michael to hold onto his hand. Her gaze drifted towards the others, one of them causing her to gasp.

"Jesse," she smiled as she let go of Michael's hand to moved towards her friend, pulling him into a brief hug before stepping away to stand beside Michael again.

"You look good Fi," he told her with a warm smile.

"Uh, thanks," she returned his smile even though she felt anything but good. Her stomach was rolling and she was having problems keeping upright.

Michael watched Jesse carefully. He wasn't sure how he felt about the man who had _kissed_ his girlfriend, even though it was only for a job. But still, he stood closer to Fiona in a way that that told the other man that she was definitely off limits.

Everyone seemed to start talking all at once and Fiona's mind couldn't seem to clear from the foggy haze still muffling her brain. She felt herself begin to sway slightly and reached out to hold onto Michael's arm.

"Are you okay?" he whispered worriedly as he wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her.

His voice soothed her senses and she turned her eyes to his, offering him a tired smile as she leaned into him. "I'm fine."

He held her close to his side and glanced towards his mother for some reassurance that Fiona's tiredness was normal. Madeline caught his worried eyes and ushered Jesse and Sam into the old garage.

"Would you boys take this conversation somewhere else," she asked them as she pulled a new cigarette from her pack. "I need to discuss something with Michael and Fiona."

"Sure thing Maddie," Jesse nodded, casting a fleeting look over at the couple that stood in the middle of the room with their arms wrapped around each other.

Sam followed his gaze and swiftly distracted Jesse with the promise of a cold beer. Both men turned and walked out of the room, caught up in laughter as they went.

Madeline moved closer to her son and reached out to place a hand on Fiona's pale face. "Are you okay, honey?" she asked softly.

"I'm fine," Fiona sighed, leaning closer to Michael. "I'm just feeling a little queasy."

"Have you had your vitamins?" Michael asked her quickly, turning her so that he could look into her eyes. When she nodded, he thought again, moving one of his hands to rest on her shoulders. "Do you need crackers? Ginger ale?"

"I'm fine, Michael," she told him with an endearing smile. "All I want to do is go home and sleep," she told him softly. "In _our_ bed, with _you_ in it."

"I think I can arrange that," he told her with a beaming smile. "I just need to talk to Jes—"

"Michael," Madeline cut him off when she saw the disappointment in Fiona's eyes. "Why don't you take your girlfriend home and I'll send Jesse by later with Fiona's stuff."

"Thank you Madeline," Fiona smiled as she broke away from Michael to pull her into a warm embrace. "Thank you for everything."

"You are so welcome, sweetheart," Madeline beamed as she held her tight against her. "You know I am here for you whenever you need me, okay."

"I do," she smiled as she pulled back to hold onto the older woman's hands. "I need to go shopping for some bigger clothes soon, want to come with me?"

"I would _love_ to sweetheart," Madeline was ecstatic when she leant forward to plant a kiss onto Fiona's cheek before casting a serious look at Michael. "Now, you take care of my daughter in law, you hear."

"Sure ma," Michael told her with a smile, pulling Fiona out of his mother's grasp so that they could escape out of the house. "We'll call you later."

000

Later that evening, Fiona placed their fruit bowls into the sink and grimaced when the smell of the Yogurt spoon that Michael had used, hit her senses. Ever since she became pregnant there were many things that caused her to gag. Coffee, iced tea, and more recently, Yogurt.

She was so deep in thought, she didn't hear the bathroom door open or a towel clad Michael emerge to come and stand behind her.

"What are you thinking?" he asked huskily as he stepped closer to warp his arms around her waist before resting his hands on her rounded stomach.

Fiona leaned back into his body, breathing in the scent that was uniquely his. She cupped his hands with her own briefly then trailed her fingers behind her to come into contact with his bare sides. Opening her hands, she glided her palms down further to feel the towel over his damp skin. His closeness sent her desire into overdrive and she felt herself drowning in his closeness. Her whole body was sinking into submission as she turned around in his arms to face him.

"I was thinking about your mother and how she must have embarrassed you today," she told him with a smile as she slid her hands up over his chest to entwine her fingers behind his neck.

"Ah, well she's my mother, it's kind of expected," he grinned, his voice starting to catch in his throat as he dipped closer to her lips, placing a soft kiss onto her mouth.

He moved his hands up to her hair and traced his fingers through the long strands. He held it gently between his fingers as he brought his eyes back to hers. "I missed you," he whispered

Fiona's eyes pooled with tears as she leant forward to meet his lips, pulling him closer to her body so she could deepen their kiss. Michael opened his mouth to her, meeting her tongue with his as he sank deeper and deeper into her. When she started to pull away he couldn't help but whimper with her loss. He opened his eyes to question her withdrawal but stopped when he felt her lips kiss his neck, sending a passionate fire coursing throughout his body.

She couldn't seem to get enough of him, her lips needing his skin as she began to kiss a blazing trail of passion along his jaw before grazing the side of his throat. Words burst into her heart, words she needed to tell him. When she turned her head upwards to look into his heavenly face, she couldn't stop them tumbling from her mouth, "I missed you."

Her words opened his heart, the floodgate widening to allow all the love he needed to share with her break free as he focused on her eyes. He struggled to find the right words, but nothing would come out, so instead he pulled her closer to him, holding her in his protective embrace as he rained kisses into her hair.

"I didn't want to leave you," he whispered, encouraged by her fingers raking over his back in an almost erotic gesture. She moved against him, pushing her body into his as she lowered her head to kiss his bare chest.

Michael's eyes closed as she continued to place open-mouthed kisses all over his sensitive flesh, her ministrations causing his whole body to shake with passionate acceptance.

She continued to kiss him, leaving no part of his skin untouched by her love as her fingers trailed down towards the towel keeping his dignity intact.

"I," he gasped when she found his ear, pulling his ear lobe into her mouth. The sensations she was causing inside him almost took him through a thousand levels of arousal as passion poured through his entire body.

"Fi," he gasped when her hands found the very essence of him, pushing the towel away so she could wrap her possessive hands around his flesh. His breath caught in his throat as she continued to move in a loving rhythm, taking him to places that had remained unvisited for what had seemed so long.

His whole body was on fire, and the need to touch her became almost overwhelming as his fingers flexed over the material that kept a barrier between their bodies. She needed to feel his hands on her skin so she moved blindly to grab the edges of her sundress to pull it off over her head. A sinful smile danced over her lips as she unclasped her bra, her eyes never leaving his while she discarded the offending material, throwing it to one side before she came to him. They were skin on skin when she touched him, clamping her mouth to his in a kiss so powerful his knees almost buckled beneath him.

His own passion amazed him. He'd never wanted to make love with a woman as much as he did Fiona; his entire body was tingling with anticipation, needing release from the painful build up of sexual tension that had been unreleased for the last few days.

Without leaving her lips, he scooped her effortlessly into his arms as he carried her towards their bed. Kneeling down onto the mattress, he laid her down, his mouth still joined to hers, both unwilling to release the other from this powerful show of intense desire.

Slowly, he pulled his lips from hers, smiling at her soft whimper as she tried desperately to pull him back to her again.

"Shh," he whispered, leaning closer to her lips again, his fingers brushing her flushed face before he started the slow worship of carnal kisses down over her body.

Fiona's head sank back into the pillows as she surrendered to his touch, letting him take over her whole body, submerged in pure pleasure.

His lips trailed over her skin, meeting her flesh with his tongue, causing her to cry out in incoherent ramblings, urging him on.

With skilful fingers, he removed the last of the cloth barrier between them until she was completely naked beside him.

His eyes met hers briefly, both of them seeing everything in each other's gaze as she moved against him. The friction caused his whole body to explode within, bursting his passion into liquid fire as he found her mouth again, pouring every ounce of love into their kiss.

Gasps and moans urged them closer as he moved above her body as she willed him on to fulfil this heavenly torture, bringing them both over the realms of pure passion as he sank into her again and again.

They flew to heaven once again, toppling over the edge to come floating back down together, clinging to each other with an out pouring of pure love that left them both breathless and in no doubt of their need for each other. When his breathing had returned to something resembling near normal, he pulled out of her and moved onto his side, taking her with him as he spooned them together. His lips gravitated to her bare shoulder, kissing her with tiny kisses that said so much more than any words ever could.

Reaching around them to hold her close to him, he felt her relax against his body as she sighed contentedly. She encased his hands with her own and stroked his fingers until they both drifted off into an exhausted slumber.

000

The first thing Michael became aware of a few hours later was how incredibly warm he felt. For a few seconds he thought he'd woken up from a wonderful dream in which the warmth still embraced him. He opened his eyes slowly and remembered where he was. Shifting slightly, he looked down towards the woman who was still asleep beside him. They were both on their sides and he had both of his arms wrapped possessively around her stomach while his legs spooned against hers.

A feeling of contentment washed over him and he suddenly couldn't remember anything that had felt so wonderful in his life before. Breathing deeply, her scent invaded his senses, causing him to pull her tighter to his body, his need to feel her closeness overwhelming every other conscious thought. Time had seemed to stop, enclosing them into a world of their own where nothing else existed but them. He knew that nothing would compare to the feeling of having her in his arms, safe and warm where nothing or no one could hurt her.

Fiona started to stir beside him, a contented sigh rasping from her lips as her fingers threaded through his on her stomach. She mumbled something as she started to wake and pushed herself further back into his body. As she opened her eyes, thoughts of the previous night started to seep back into her consciousness and her hand stilled on his.

"Hi," he whispered as he placed a soft kiss onto her shoulder.

Fiona turned in his arms to face him. Blinking the tiredness from her eyes she offered him a blissful smile. "Hey."

Michael broke into a warm smile. Lifting a hand, he traced the outline of her face and leaned forward to press a light kiss on her forehead. "Feeling better?"

"I feel wonderful," she smiled.

"Really?" he grinned, his eyes gazing over her features as his fingers continued to stroke her skin.

"Oh yeah, that's the best night's sleep I've had in a week." She could see the love in his eyes now as he watched her with such adoration, and all she could think of was how she was so content to lie there alongside him.

He was just about to lean forward to press a soft kiss onto her lips when there was a loud banging on the door.

"Mike," Jesse's voice called from the other side before he knocked again.

"_Crap_," Michael groaned into Fiona's shoulder as they both froze, hoping their unwelcome intruder would turn around and go away. But when he banged on the door again, they both knew he wasn't going to leave.

Untangling themselves from each other, Fiona swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up slowly. Reaching up, she combed her fingers through her wayward hair, trying to flatten the strands that refused to lay flat.

"I'll get the door," she told him softly as she reached for her robe that was draped over Michael's green chair. "You go and get dressed."

"Are you sure," he asked softly, rubbing her back when she wavered slightly.

"MIKE!" the door banged again and Fiona couldn't help but giggle to herself when Jesse sounded more and more frustrated.

"Well you was only wearing a towel last night. Unless you want to wear that," she grinned at him as she slipped the robe around her body and pulled it closed with the belt.

With a heavy sigh he scrambled out of bed and made his way towards the bathroom, unabashed by his nakedness. When he was out of sight, Fiona moved towards the door and pulled it open.

"Morning Jesse," she told him with a smile.

Jesse stared at her in shock and his mouth opened and closed as he took in her dishevelled appearance.

"Are you coming in, or are you just going to stand there all morning?" she asked with a smile as she stepped back to allow him to enter.

When he came gingerly into the loft, he forced his gaze away from her legs and tried desperately not to notice the way her robe clung to her body. Instead his eyes scanned the room and gravitated towards the unmade bed and the discarded clothes beside it. Fiona followed his eyes and felt herself flush with embarrassment. Moving towards them she bent to retrieve her rumbled sundress and underwear, and was more than relieved to see Michael's swift entrance. Even though Jesse was there in the room, Fiona couldn't register anything except the form of the man she loved. She had never felt this way before in all of her life. Taking a breath, she shook herself out of her reverie and moved towards him.

He met her eyes with a smouldering gaze as she slid her fingers over his bare arm when she moved past him. "I'm going for a shower," she told him with a knowing smile.

"Okay," he told her, his eyes following her retreating form before he turned to greet their visitor with a bright grin. "Morning Jesse."

"I brought Fi's stuff," Jesse stammered, thrusting the bag at Michael as if it had burned him. "Your mom was kinda insistant that I come over with it now."

"Thanks," Michael took it gratefully and placed it onto the unmade bed. Without looking at the other man in the room he unzipped it to pull out the bottle containing Fiona's vitamins and walked into the kitchen to place them on the windowsill. He didn't even realise what he had done until he turned around and met Jesse's wide eyed gaze.

tbc


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you again for all of the reviews. It lifts my spirits no end.**

Chapter 4

Jesse was dumbstruck. He had expected Fiona to be staying with Michael over night, but he hadn't expected them to be looking so…comfortable. He wasn't stupid; he knew there was more going on here than the two of them just casually sharing a bed. Michael seemed happier than he'd seen him in the short time he'd known him.

Now with the way he and Fiona were acting when they were together, he knew something had changed. There was definitely more to their relationship than there had been before, a new closeness. The vitamins only added to his suspicions, but he wasn't going to be the one to ask if what he suspected was true.

"So," Jesse started, when Michael pulled two yogurts out of the refrigerator and handed him one. "Have you told Fiona yet?"

Michael reached for two spoons from the drawer and stopped in mid flow when he heard Jesse's question. The deal he'd struck was one that would benefit the government and himself. He'd had an epiphany, of sorts. Priorities had changed and he'd fallen so deeply for the woman in his life, more than he'd ever imagined he could.

"Not yet," he sighed as he turned around to hand the other man a silver spoon. "I'm waiting for my moment. She doesn't need the stress."

"Why?" Jesse asked as he gestured towards the pill bottle on the windowsill. "Is she sick?"

"Uh, no," Michael couldn't help the small catch in his voice as he spoke. "She's just a little run down."

"Well, Mike. In my experience, isn't it better to tell her now than leave it until she finds out on her own?" Jesse asked. "I've seen her angry and she's a fireball."

"Yeah," Michael mused. "She's passionate about the things she believes in."

"And you think she's going to understand?"

"Understand what?" Fiona's voice broke into their conversation as she walked back through the loft, towards them. Her hair was lying in wet tendrils over her shoulders as she regarded the two of them suspiciously. "Michael?"

Michael shot a scowl at Jesse for bringing up the discussion in the first place. Putting his unopened Yogurt back onto the counter, he moved towards her to take hold of her hands.

"When I got back you asked me if I got the result I wanted," he told her softly. "And I did, in a way."

"In a way?" she asked worriedly as her eyes scanned his face. "In what way?"

"I uh, I think I'll leave you two alone," Jesse started to stand.

"You can sit right back down, Jesse," Fiona snapped, staring at him with blazing eyes before turning them back on to Michael.

Jesse's eyes grew wide as he started to move gingerly towards the door and pulled it open. "Honestly, Fi…this is something for you two to discuss…I'll…um, see you back at…the house…okay…bye…"

Michael watched the door close behind Jesse's departing form and gulped heavily as he directed his gaze back to the woman before him. She was watching him with wide eyes, her body tense as she waited for him to speak.

"I'm still officially burned," he told her, leading her over towards the bed to sit her down. "But after I complete three missions, I'll get my life back." Her silence made him uneasy and he reached for her hand again. "Talk to me."

Fiona swallowed hard against the lump forming in her throat. "I told you I would stand by you," her voice cracked when she tried to speak but tears blurred her vision. "And if this is what you want…"

"Fi," his voice lowered to a soft whisper as he reached out a finger towards her chin, tilting her head up so that he could see her eyes. "Look at me, please."

When she lifted her eyes to his, he could already see the tears pooling in her depths as she tried desperately to be strong for him. "I know this is what you wanted," she sniffed, "I told you I would support you, and I will."

"No," he shook his head and squeezed her fingers, urging her to look back up at him. "You're not listening…I do three missions in return for guaranteed protection, for all of us."

Fiona nodded, understanding slowly seeping through her words. "And then what happens after you've completed these three missions? Do they make you take another three for _another_ promise?"

"No, that's all. If I decide to work for them again after that, it'll be on _my_ terms, with _my_ own team…this is for our future Fi," he implored her to understand.

"Can you be happy with that, Michael?" she asked softly as a lone tear spilled down over her cheek. "What if this life we're making together isn't enough for you? What if—"

Leaning forward, he silenced her fears with his lips, kissing her softly. When he pulled back he reached up a hand to stroke his fingers over her face, wiping the tears away with his thumb.

"Fiona Glenanne, you have _always_ been more than enough for me."

Her eyes dropped to their joined hands before she looked back up at him and forced a smile to her lips. "When do you have to leave?"

"Five days," he told her solemnly. "I told them I needed to be here with you."

"Five days?" she whispered brokenly. "We only have five days?"

"Fi," he reached forward and pulled her body into his arms, holding her against him. "We'll get through this. I promise you."

"What about this…" she gestured towards her stomach, "…we still have the sonogram."

"The doctor said as soon as possible, right?" he told her, squeezing her hand.

"If you're not here I'll take your mother, and I'll let her loose on you," she warned. "I won't stop her!"

"I'll be here," he told her with a reassuring smile.

"And, I _will not_ stay at your mother's while you're away. Don't even try and make me because I will _hurt_ you!" Her eyes caught him in a serious gaze and he had no doubts at all that she meant every word.

"Okay," he nodded slowly.

"_And_ I _will_ be taking jobs with Sam, don't you _dare_ try and stop me."

She pulled her hands away from his and got to her feet. He could see her take a shaky breath before she moved towards the kitchen. Her silence worried him. An angry Fiona he was familiar with, but this was something new.

With a heavy sigh he moved off of the bed and made his way slowly towards her motionless form. She was standing in front of the sink facing the window, stock-still and unmoving.

Stepping up behind her he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. Lowering his face, he rubbed his cheek against her hair. He loved this woman more than he had ever thought possible. She had turned his whole life upside down since the day he'd met her and despite how many times he had left her, she still remained fiercely loyal to him.

"You know what scares me the most?" she asked softly, her voice no more than a whisper.

"What?" he asked as he pulled her body tighter against him.

"I've never been on the top of your list of priorities, it's always been your job first," her voice wavered as she spoke and he could tell by the tightness in her body that she was trying not to show how much she was struggling with this. "You never put me first, ever…"

"Fi," he whispered, her words causing guilt to well up inside him. "Fiona…"

Moving his hands to her shoulders, he manoeuvred her so that she turned in the circle of his arms to face him. She kept her gaze lowered, her eyes focused on his chest.

"The second you came flying through that window, everything changed." Leaning forward he pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. "You chose to be with me, even though there was a good chance that I wouldn't get out of there alive. We both could have died, but you came after me anyway..."

"I wanted to die with you," she told him as she moved closer to him, moulding herself to his body. "I chose you."

His hands slid up her arms and enclosed around her body, pulling her tighter into his embrace. "These three jobs they want me to do. When they're over, I'm out, officially, but with the pension and the protection…" When she lifted her eyes up to his, he leaned closer, his lips hovering over hers. "This is _me_ putting you first…"

Fiona met his lips in a soft kiss and pulled back to look up at him tenderly. "I want you to be happy, and if staying with the government is what you want, then I _will_ support you."

"I thought you wanted me to turn it down."

"I want whatever you want," she told him with a sigh and stepped back out of his arms. "This…it's hormones…" she pointed to her tear filled eyes. "I'm a Glenanne, we don't cry at the drop of a hat."

"Fi," lifting his hands to her shoulders he traced his fingers over her arms. "I want a job that keeps me close to home, and they've promised me that."

"Will that be enough?" she asked tearfully. "You love your job."

"I love you more," he told her in a whisper as he met her lips with his.

000

Madeline looked up from her magazine when Michael and Fiona came into the house. She regarded Michael coolly when he held the door open to usher Fiona through.

"Hi sweetheart," she smiled when Fiona came to sit down beside her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Fiona told her with a tight smile. She could feel the hostility in the room and it was making her uncomfortable. Michael stepped up behind her, sensing her unease and placed his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them lightly with his fingers.

He caught his mother's glare and was suddenly taken aback. She only used that certain look when he had done something she disapproved of and Jesse's face suddenly came to mind.

"Mom, is there something you want to talk about?"

Fiona's eyes snapped towards Madeline's before she lifted one of her hands to touch Michael's fingers on her shoulder. She regarded Madeline with a worried gaze and squeezed Michael's hand before she stood up

"If you two are going to do this now, then I am going to go and work on my little present for the newspaper thief."

"Wait…what?" Michael's gaze shifted to her. "Newspaper thief?"

"Someone has been stealing my papers from my front step, so Fiona kindly offered to help me find out who," Madeline told him matter of factly as she reached for another cigarette.

"And how are you doing that exactly?" Michael asked, his voice rising slightly as he turned his attention to Fiona's retreating form. "Fiona?"

"Will you leave that poor girl be?" Madeline snapped at him as she took a long drag from her cigarette before blowing out a plume of smoke. "She is trying to deal with this pregnancy the best she can, especially with you disappearing every few days."

"You spoke to Jesse," he sighed heavily. Pulling out Fiona's vacated chair, he sat down next to his mother and fought to find the right words.

"She's not as strong as she makes out," Madeline told him harshly, keeping her voice low. "When she told me about losing your baby, I could see the pain in her eyes Michael. She carried that secret around with her for so many years. Losing a baby hurts, not just physically but emotionally. She needs your support not your vanishing act."

"Do you think I want to leave her?" Michael asked angrily, his voice lowering to a harsh whisper. "Do you understand how much it rips me apart every time I walk out that door without her? _Do you_?"

"Then why not just walk away?" Madeline's voice softened when she saw how much he meant those words.

"I am walking away mom," he sighed as he lifted his hands to his eyes and rubbed the wetness away. "I'm doing this to protect her and our future."

"I know honey," Madeline sighed. Her eyes focused on her half smoked cigarette and stubbed it into the nearby ashtray before she pushed her chair back to stand up. "It's just a shame you have such lousy timing."

"Mom?" he asked worriedly when she started to walk away. "What does that mean?"

"Ask Sam," she sighed haughtily as she turned away from him to walk towards the kitchen.

Michael swallowed heavily when she slammed a kitchen drawer closed and looked towards the old garage. He had a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach as he walked towards the open doorway, dread eating away at him.

"So Fi," Sam asked, hovering around Fiona as she sat at the table attaching a small magnetic plate to the inside of the newspaper he'd brought in with him. "You've given up on the tracker?"

"No," she told him with a growing smile. "I decided it was too boring. I need something that goes _bang_!"

"You do know these things make more of a pop don't ya?" Sam teased. "Are you going soft on us?"

"Don't be ridiculous," she snapped as she picked up the small radio receiver that she'd been working on a few days ago and popped it onto one of the small red packages that she'd filled with her _special_ dye. "Whoever is stealing Madeline's papers is going to get a big surprise when this thing explodes all over his clothes and the fun part is that I get to shoot him."

"Now Fi…we talked about this. There's no shooting anyone," Michael's voice echoed throughout the room, causing Fiona to cast him a sideways smile.

"You're no fun Michael!"

"Can I help?" he asked as he came into the room to sit down on the chair beside her.

"You can set the timer," she told him with a smile as she handed him the small device. "Set it to ten seconds."

"Okay," he focused on the device in his hands and cast her a tentative smile. "So, my mom say's you have some news for me Sam."

"Me?" Sam asked quickly. "I'm just the messenger Mikey, Fi's the one with all the know-how."

"Here you go Sam," Fiona smiled sweetly as she handed him a small radio transmitter. "Would you be a _dear_ and fix this to the doorframe outside for me please."

Sam scowled at her as he took the transmitter from her nimble fingers and grumbled under his breath about how pregnant women made him crazy, before he left the room.

When they were once again alone, Michael reached out towards her and placed a hand over hers, stilling her fingers.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"It's nothing," she swallowed hard and diverted her eyes, "I just got my date for the sonogram, that's all. Nothing big."

"That's great," he told her with a smile that soon dropped from his lips when she didn't return it. "Fi, what's wrong?"

He could see her blinking rapidly before she turned back towards him, keeping her eyes focused on his hands. "It's next week…you're going to miss it."

"What?" His voice came out on a sigh, disappointment echoing in that one word. "Can't they do it sooner?"

"Sam asked," her voice cracked when she spoke. "It's something to do with clinic hours and avoiding suspicion."

"But I wanted to be there," his fingers squeezed hers and tugged gently, urging her to meet his eyes. "You know how much I want to be there."

"I know," she swallowed the lump in her throat and looked up into his gaze. His eyes mirrored the same devastation as hers. "But you're doing this for us; right…it'll be worth the sacrifice in the end…" a single tear spilled from her eyes to carve a wet track down her cheek. "Tell me it'll be worth it…"

"It'll be worth it," he told her brokenly as he shifted quickly to pull her into his lap, snaking his arms tightly around her body.

Fiona laid her cheek against his head and planted a soft kiss into his hair before pulling back to look into his eyes, stroking his face with her fingers. "We'll get through this as long as we're together."

"We will, Fi…" he told her softly as he touched her lips with a gentle press of his own. Moving back slightly, his hands came up to frame her face, their movements deliberately slow as he came forward and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that held none of the passion they had captured over their time together. His arms surrounded hers, the sheer strength of their kiss causing them both to adhere to each other.

With a deep sigh, he deepened their kiss, binding them together in slow intoxication, linking them as one in their desperate bid to memorize each other for the lonely time ahead.

Their lips parted slowly, only to meet again and again with feather light touches, desperation etched in every touch that kept them fused together until a loud cough pulled them apart.

"Will you two get a room or something," Sam groaned as he came into the room with Jesse following close behind. "You're turning me off my beer!"

Fiona smiled and laid her head against Michael's forehead before slipping off of his lap. "Oh you're just jealous!" she sing songed as she moved back to her red dye pack.

"And you're delusional," he cracked back.

"Oooo, big words Sam," she told him with a bright smile. "Mind you don't choke on 'em!"

"Guy's," Michael cut in, holding his hands in the air. "Can we just stop!"

"She started it!" Sam whined, casting Fiona a look of triumph when Michael turned his attention to her.

"I'm pregnant, what's your excuse?" she beamed.

The gasp from Jesse stopped all three of them in their bantering. Fiona sighed heavily and turned back to the dye pack she was working on while the three men in the room stared at her.

"What?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders before casting a mock glare in Sam's direction. "This is all _your_ fault."

"Hey don't blame me sister, I didn't put that bun in your oven!" Sam held his hand up in surrender and backed away.

"Don't be disgusting," she snapped and turned her scrutinising gaze towards Jesse. "I'm pregnant, yes, it's Michael's and no, it wasn't planned…anything else?"

Jesse's mouth opened and closed but no words would come out. Silently he raised his hands in the air, openly conceding to a question he'd never even asked.

"Uh…congratulations," he offered hopefully, looking from Michael to Fiona nervously.

"Thank you," Fiona smiled sweetly before getting up from the table with her device intact inside the newspaper. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a thief to catch."

000

A month had passed since that day in the old garage. Fiona had succeeded in catching the culprit who had been stealing Madeline's newspapers. She felt a little guilty when he turned out to be the thwelve year old kid from down the street. Between Madeline's screeching and the red dye all over him, the young boy never came back.

Michael had left in a black sedan three days later, clutching a brown folder in his hands. He'd given her one last smile before he left, and that was what had kept her together all this time.

Jesse had been in touch a few times to let them all know any updates he had, which were few and far between. Fiona tried not to worry, she tried to keep positive, but as the days wore on she became more and more withdrawn.

Her eyes gazed down at the sonogram picture in her hands and she stroked her finger over the grainy image. She was now close to sixteen weeks pregnant and expanding out of her clothes with rapid speed. Today was supposed to be the day she went to the mall with Madeline, but somehow, she couldn't shake the feeling of sorrow from the pit of her stomach.

Propping the small picture up against the fan next to the bed, she stood up and turned towards the full length mirror that she's borrowed from Michael's old room. Standing sideways, she ran her hands over her rounded stomach and felt a small kick against her palm. Tears sprang to her eyes when she felt the tiny movements. She missed Michael even more; he should have been here to share this moment. He should have been the first one to feel their baby move, not Sam.

They had been sitting in the charger waiting for Madeline to come out of the store when she first felt the small movement. At first she'd been uncertain, wondering if she'd imagined it, but when it happened a second time, she reached across and grabbed Sam's hand, holding it to her stomach.

He had been as shocked as she was, and he tried to yank his hand away. But then he had felt the movements beneath his palm and sat there with a silly wide grin on his face. It wasn't until Madeline got back in the car that he'd pulled his hand away, feigning embarrassment, but Fiona knew that he was just as moved by those tiny movements as she was.

The sudden buzzing of her phone brought her out of her reverie and she moved away from the mirror to look at the screen. The number wasn't one she recognised, so she lifted it to her ear cautiously. "Hello."

"_Fi…"_

"Michael," she breathed. "Oh thank god, where are you?"

"_I'm on my way home…"_ the phone line crackled and for a moment she thought she'd lost him, but his voice came through again. _"I'll be back…in… tomorrow."_

"Tomorrow?" she raised her voice, shouting the word as if by speaking louder he would hear her. "When tomorrow?"

"_Call…I love—"_ and then the line went dead.

"I love you," she whispered into the phone, even though she was greeted with silence. Taking a deep breath she closed off the phone and made her way towards the door, picking up her car keys as she left.

tbc


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Thank you so much to everyone who sent reviews, PM's and basic good wishes. I treat negative reviews in the same way as I do positive. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but personally, if I don't like something, I don't waste time reading all the way through. I press the back button! Seriously though, thank you. It means a lot to have your support.**

**Huge thanks also to Purdy's Pal for her help with this chapter**

5

Fiona's mind was racing as she drove to Madeline's house. She kept replaying Michael's brief telephone call over and over inside her head, as if she could find some kind of clue to where he had been.

Trying to focus, she thought of every major news event that had been covered in the past month, hoping and praying that he hadn't been caught up amongst any of them. She ran through every scenario in her mind to combat every logical thought, causing irrational fear to spread through her.

What if he was hurt? What if they told him he had to stay on for longer? What if the next mission lasted for months on end, taking him away from her and their child? He'd already missed the sonogram and the baby's first movements, what if he missed the birth too? By the time she pulled into Madeline's driveway she had already convinced herself that something was terribly wrong.

Madeline was in her kitchen cleaning her counter tops when the front door flew open. She jumped dramatically and was about to go and investigate when a very dishevelled Fiona came barrelling through.

"Please tell me he called you," she gasped urgently, her eyes shining with worry.

"Honey, what happened?" Madeline went to her wavering form and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Did he call you?" Fiona asked, her voice rough as she tried to get the words out. "Oh god…"

Madeline manoeuvred her onto the couch and slowly sat down with her, holding onto her hands. "It's okay…he called Sam too, he's fine. He's going to be home by tomorrow night."

"He got cut off," Fiona's voice rose in pitch and she tried desperately to gain control of her racing heartbeat. "I…hate not knowing…"

Madeline smoothed her hands over Fiona's flushed face and pulled her towards her, rocking her gently. "He said something about the signal being bad. Why did you think something was wrong?"

Fiona closed her eyes, squeezing them shut. She shook her head and tried to take a deep breath, but it came out in a sob.

"I don't know…I guess I'm just waiting for the day when he…" her voice trailed off and she slowly started to pull herself back, opening her eyes to look down at their joined hands. "Everything today feels so…hopeless…"

"Oh sweetheart," Madeline soothed and squeezed Fiona's hand tighter. "I know exactly how you feel. I went through it too when I was pregnant with Michael."

Fiona lifted her tear filled eyes to Madeline's and moved her free hand to swipe at the stray tear that had escaped to roll down her face.

"I…hate this," she breathed, her voice catching angrily as she spoke. "This isn't…me. I don't do this…"

"You're pregnant, of course you do this," Madeline told her with a smile. "I cried over everything, it drove Frank nuts."

"I should be happy he's coming home…" Fiona's eyes misted again as she pressed her hand over her stomach. "But…all I can think of is…when he has to leave again…he's already missed so much…"

"I know sweetheart," Madeline sighed sadly. "When he gets home, you need to talk to him. Tell him how you feel."

"He already _knows_ how I _feel_," Fiona sat forward and untangled her hand from Madeline's. Swiping at her eyes she slowly stood up and took a deep breath. "I'm going to use the bathroom."

"Okay," Madeline told her worriedly, watching her closely as she left the room. Picking up her phone she dialled Sam's number and sighed heavily when he answered.

When Fiona came out of the bathroom she looked more composed as she made her way into the kitchen to join Madeline.

"Hey," the older woman beamed. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry…" Fiona could feel the heat building in her face as the flush of embarrassment flooded through her. "I guess pregnancy makes me a little on edge."

"Don't you ever be sorry honey," Madeline told her sternly. "You've had a rough deal right from the start with that son of mine, and lord knows he has pulled some—"

"It's not his fault," Fiona sighed, defending the man she loved even though she knew what Madeline said was true. "I knew what I was getting in to, but I…I didn't think it would be this…hard…"

"I know you love him honey," Madeline sighed and came over to stand beside her. "I don't think I've ever seen two people who love each other more than you two. But don't ever let him off the hook so easily."

"I told him to go, I gave him my blessing."

"Did you really have any choice?" Madeline asked softly as she reached out to squeeze Fiona's hand.

"I know this is for us…what he's doing is for us…but…" Fiona's voice drifted off as she struggled to quieten her own insecurities.

"You're worried he won't want to come back," Madeline told her with a knowing smile.

"Yes," Fiona looked up at her quickly, eyeing the older woman with a newfound admiration.

"I went through it myself honey. I know how it feels to be alone and cut off from your family…" Madeline rubbed her arm as she spoke. "I know you can't tell your mother about the baby…and that has got to hurt."

"They can't know," Fiona pressed her palm against her stomach and soothed the tiny life that kicked against her palm. "It's not—"

Both women jumped when the front door opened and Sam came walking through. His hair was sticking up in different directions and he looked like he'd practically run all the way.

"Okay, the cavalries here…" he declared as he came sauntering into the room.

"Sam," Fiona tried to be serious but she couldn't help the small giggle coming out of her mouth when he turned to face her.

"Hey sister, I came charging over here for you…don't look at me like that…" his face twisted when she gave him a look that could only be described as adoring. "Now this is getting plain freaky."

"Thank you Sam," Fiona told him with a smile as she left Madeline's side to walk up to him and pat him on the shoulder. "So what's the plan on our job? Do I get to blow things up this time? I'm feeling a little…destructive…"

"I can handle it—" Sam started, intent on telling her to stay away from the job but she cut him off mid sentence.

"Stop treating me like an invalid. I can still work. I'm not some china doll that's going to break apart before your eyes. I'm a Glenanne, and we _don't_ break." Taking a deep breath she watched his face switch to concern when he looked at her and almost instantly felt the fight seep out of her.

"He's fine, you know. No need to get antsy," Sam told her, keeping his voice low as he spoke. "He's okay."

"How do we know that?" Fiona asked, hoping he didn't hear the catch in her voice. "He tells us what he wants us to know. One day he could be dead in a ditch somewhere and none of us would know…"

"Fi—"

"No," she stepped away from him before he could touch her and held up her hand. "I don't want to hear any more…I just…I need to work. I'll meet you out front."

Tears sprang to her eyes again but she hurried away from him and out of the door before he could see her lose it again.

Sam turned worried eyes onto Madeline, seeing the same concern etched in hers. "I sure hope Mikey ends this jaunt of his soon."

"Me too Sam," Madeline sighed as she reached for her packet of cigarettes. "He has a lot of catching up to do."

000

Sam looked sideways towards the silent woman sitting beside him in the car. Her stillness was unnerving him a little and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I just wanna go over the plan one more time, just to be sure," Sam told her, his eyes alternating between Fiona and the house they were surveilling. "The guy shows up and we—"

"We put a gun in his face and tell him to leave town. If he doesn't then I blow up his car and if he's lucky I'll shoot him too."

"Fi—"

"Shut up Sam. I'm doing this and you're not going to stop me." Turning determined eyes onto the man beside her she dared him to speak. When he put his hands in the air in defeat she nodded silently and lifted the small binoculars to her eyes, watching over the house across the street.

"You know, I could have handled this," Sam huffed and reached for the snacks they'd brought with them.

"The only thing that's changed is this," she told him determinedly as she gestured towards her rounded stomach. "I can still do my job."

"No one is saying you can't do your job, Fi," he sighed, taking the binoculars off of her before she could argue with him.

Fiona shot him an angry glare and sat up in her seat. Nudging Sam's arm she pointed towards the car that had pulled up outside their client's house. "Looks like he didn't take you seriously Sam," she told him with a hint of a smile as she held up a detonator in her hand. "Just as well I brought this along."

"Fi…what did you do?" Sam asked worriedly, already reaching for the door handle to push it open.

"That man threatened to hurt his son to spite his ex wife. I'm going to show him what it's like to be threatened, especially by a woman." Before Sam could get out of the car she held the detonator and pushed the button, her eyes widening in a satisfied smile when the car in front of the ex husband's burst into flames, sending swirling fire and smoke into the air. The sleazy ex husband dived to the floor with his hands over his head.

Sam stared at her in awe before a proud smile spread across his face. "What say we finish the job?"

"Oo, yes," she grinned as she opened the door and reached for her SIG out of the glove box. She was out of the car before Sam could stop her; marching up to the staggering ex. She punched him clear in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Go near Alice or her son again and I'll shoot you," she warned as he cowered on the floor with his hands in the air.

"I'd listen to her," Sam warned him. "She will shoot you "

"What…what do you want?" he shook as he spoke, his hands still raised in the air. "Do you want money? I have money…"

"That's exactly what you're going to do," Sam told him, taking his phone out of his pocket. "You're going to call your bank and transfer ten thousand grand into this account."

"I don't think—"

Fiona pulled her SIG on him with both hands, pointing it at his cowering form. "Believe me, I would love to shoot you," she growled.

"Okay, okay," he reached for the phone and pressed the numbers with shaking fingers and put the phone to his ear. His eyes went to the paper in Sam's hand as he waited for someone to answer before rattling off the bank account number. "Yes that's right, ten thousand. Yes right away...thank you." Thrusting the phone back into Sam's hands, he gulped heavily. "It's done."

"Pleasure doing business with you," Sam grinned as he stepped back, indicating Fiona to do the same, but she didn't move, her gun still pointing at the man on the floor.

"Fi, time to go," he told her quickly when sirens were sounding in the distance. "Fi we gotta move."

She stepped back and lowered her weapon only to lunge forward and whack the man around the head with the barrel of the gun before stepping away. Turning to Sam she offered him a satisfied smile and headed back towards the car. Not looking back as they drove away, leaving the wreckage behind them.

000

Later that day, Madeline, with the help of Sam persuaded Fiona to go out to the mall as originally planned. The older woman sat on a bench outside the changing room waiting for Fiona to come out. When she hadn't emerged after five minutes she got up and tapped on the side of the door.

"Fi, are you okay in there?"

"No," came a soft reply that was enough for Madeline to push the door open to go into the small room.

What she found almost made her break in two. There was her beautiful 'daughter in law' looking radiant in a loose fitting blouse, but she couldn't seem to fasten the linen pants she'd chosen to go with the outfit.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

Fiona turned wild eyes on her and gestured to her growing midsection. "Look…I can't even fit into the next size up…oh god…I'm huge…"

Madeline looked at her with barely contained amusement that only earned a glare from the younger woman.

"It's not funny," she whined miserably as she looked at herself in the mirror. "When Michael gets home all he's going to see is a whale!"

"All he's going to see is you, sweetheart," Madeline told her fondly as she reached out to pull her into a hug.

"But…look at me…"

Madeline took her by the shoulders and turned her so that they were both facing the full length mirror.

"You are beautiful," Madeline told her with an adoring smile. "He'll think so too."

Fiona looked at the older woman's eyes in the reflection staring back at her. "I hope so," she sighed heavily.

Turning her back around to face her, Madeline leaned back to hold onto Fiona's hands. "I know you can't have your family here with you, and I know you can't tell your mother about the baby. But I just want you to know, that you have a family _here_ who loves you."

Fiona's breath caught in her throat. She loved Madeline just as much as her own mother. Tears sprang to her eyes but she hurriedly blinked them away before they could take hold of her.

"Me too," she told her with a shaky smile. "I think I'm going to go to the maternity section. Might as well admit it, right…"

"I think that's a wise decision honey," Madeline told her with a wide smile.

"All I wanted since I found out I was pregnant was to have something to show I was pregnant…now…nothing fits me anymore."

"Well that's kinda what happens honey," Madeline smiled. "You're going to get a lot bigger."

Fiona turned back towards the mirror and smoothed her hand over her growing stomach and sighed wistfully before slipping out of the undersized pants and retuned them to the hanger.

Madeline smiled as she left the changing room and waited patiently for Fiona to come out. She was having a nice time, despite the fact that she hated big shopping outlets. She was just happy that she could distract her for a little while.

Fiona was in mid change when she thought she heard what sounded like two male voices sniggering and whispering close to the adjoining wall. Moving closer, she cast a trained eye over the surface, scanning for anything that would indicate a hole or a hidden camera, until her gaze focused on a small round hole in the corner or the small room.

At first she thought about yelling for the manager and creating merry hell, but then a small satisfying smile came to her face as she pulled on her own jeans and rummaged through her bag for her Taser.

When the changing room door opened, Fiona breezed out and handed Madeline her bag before turning away to head towards the adjoining changing cubicle. She was gone for a few seconds before she returned and linked her arm through Madeline's, pulling her along with her as she beamed a bright smile at her.

"You're looking a lot brighter than you were," Madeline told her suspiciously. "What did you do?"

"Oh nothing any normal girl wouldn't do if she found two spotty faced perves spying on her," she grinned. "I'm starving, let's get something to eat."

000

When Fiona arrived back at the loft later that night, she placed her shopping bags onto the bed and sat down next to them with a heavy sigh. It had been nice spending time with Madeline, but she was exhausted. Looking over towards her new clothes, she couldn't help but smile when she ran her fingers over the dress she was going to wear the next time she went out to dinner.

Standing up from the bed, she took her new clothes out of the bags and splayed them over the mattress with a satisfied smile. Contrary to what she'd thought, maternity clothes weren't as hideous as she'd been lead to believe. She could remember her mother wearing huge big smocks with large bright bows, unflattering in every possible way. She would rather spend her time wearing nothing that wearing those monstrosities.

Picking up her new items, she took them over to the closet and hung them up with great care, letting her fingers trace over the different textures. With a heavy sigh she let the weariness wash over her and turned away to make her way towards the bathroom. It had been an extremely long day and if she was going to be anything for Michael's return, she was going to be fully alert.

Nothing could have prepared her for what had been waiting for her when she came out of the bathroom ten minutes later. She was tying her robe together when she came face to face with the man who had haunted her dreams for so many years.

"Fi," he breathed her name as he threw his bag onto the floor and engulfed her in his arms, holding her tightly against him.

Fiona was in shock. Here he was, standing before her larger than life and all she could do was whisper his name over and over again as she clung into his body. After a few moments, Michael stepped away to gaze down at her with awe. She was looking up at him with wide sparkling eyes.

"But how are you here?" she asked in a whisper when she reached up her hands to stroke his bearded face. "You said tomorrow…"

"I helped someone," he told her cryptically, his voice soothing her aching senses. "He pulled some strings to get me home sooner."

He couldn't seem to tear his gaze away from hers. He had never felt so completely adored in his whole life. Wordlessly he dipped his head again and caught her lips with his own, slowly increasing pressure until her mouth opened beneath his.

Fiona slid her hands up his chest and over his shoulders to bury her fingers into his hair. She moulded her body against his, needing to be as close to him as possible. One smouldering kiss followed another, as they touched and caressed, expressing their love for each other with fervent strokes.

His lips left hers to trail soft kisses down her throat, sparking passionate fires everywhere they touched. Fiona angled her head to give him better access and closed her eyes as waves of desire crashed over her body. Her breath seemed to leave her in soft desperate gasps when he changed direction to begin kissing his way back towards her chin, every kiss leaving her in no doubt of his love for her.

"I'm glad to be home," he whispered when he moved to her ear, his breath fanning against her skin when he continued his mantra. "I missed you…I really missed you."

Michael pulled her closer. He loved this woman so much; no words could ever describe it. He was totally lost in her and when her fingers came down and raked over his chest, he knew he would give anything in his power to make her happy. No woman had ever made him feel so utterly desirable, so desperately needed, or so completely loved.

He delighted in the tiny gasps she made when he kissed his way back up her throat. She angled her neck to accommodate him, her soft gasps spurring him onwards until he couldn't bear to be parted from her any longer. He slid his lips up towards her chin placing open mouthed kisses along the way, until his lips met hers again for another scorching kiss. Manoeuvring them backwards, he edged her towards the bed, her body surrendering to him when he gently eased her down onto it.

His mouth left hers briefly so he could lift himself up and look down into her tear filled eyes. Her lips were slightly swollen and her breathing was coming in deep shuddering gasps and he didn't know if there would come a time when he could possibly love her more than he already did. Her emotion filled eyes called out to him and he slowed his movements. Leaning over her he kissed her gently, moving his lips to caress every part of her face before pulling back to gaze down into her eyes.

"I love you so much," he whispered knowing he could never tire of telling her, before dipping his head to kiss her again.

Fiona choked on a sob when his lips met hers and she held on to him before he could pull back to ask her what was wrong. She opened her mouth beneath his, surrendering herself to him in every possible way. Making love with him had always been something so beautiful, and she could never have imagined anyone loving her the way he did. It had never been like this before for her, not with anyone.

Her tears spurred him onwards and he kissed her almost desperately, his need to show her that she was his world making him forget everything else. His lips left hers to leave a trail of kisses over her face, before his eyes found hers again.

"It's been so hard without you," she whispered as tears spilled over onto her cheeks.

"I'm here, I'm not going anywhere," he told her fiercely, punctuating his promise with a deep drugging kiss that left her in no doubt that he meant it…

000

They laid together in a tangle of limbs. Michael's head was laid on Fiona's chest and his hands caressed her rounded stomach with proud fascination. He couldn't believe how much her body was changing; he'd missed it all. He was just about to shift backwards to look up at her when he felt a small movement beneath his palm.

"Is that?" he asked in awe, his eyes growing wide when the movements followed his hands across her stomach.

"Yes it is what you think it is," she chuckled. "I've grown out of all my clothes."

Michael leaned down and placed a soft kiss onto her stomach before crawling back up her body to lie down beside her.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here," he whispered. "I wish I had been here for the sonogram and to watch you expand out of your clothes."

"Well according to your mother, I've got a lot more _expanding_ to do yet." Fiona gazed into his eyes and lifted a hand to stroke his bearded chin. "This is new."

"It was part of my cover," he grinned. "Why, don't you like it?"

"It reminds me of when we were in Germany," she told him as she reached up a finger to run across the scar on his face. "You had a beard the night you left me."

"I'm not leaving this time, Fi," he told her reassuringly. Shifting off of her suddenly he swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. "I'll shave it off."

"What, _now_?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes, now," he grinned as he reached down for his jeans and pulled them on. Turning back towards her he leant down and place a soft kiss onto her lips before heading towards the bathroom.

tbc


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks again for all of your reviews and messages; they are all very much appreciated. This chapter is for my wonderful friend TDCSI who wanted some angst.**

**Huge thanks as always to Purdy's Pal for her input in this chapter **

6

When Michael awoke the next morning, he reached across to wrap his arm around Fiona, but the bed was empty. Sitting up he looked around for any signs of her until he spotted her long slender legs propped up on a chair on the balcony.

Sitting up, he climbed out of the bed and pulled on his jeans. His bones clicked as he stretched but he ignored the noise as he made his way towards the balcony doors, pushing them open. The smile that had been ready to greet her died on his lips when he saw her looking up into the sky, with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Michael," she jumped when she noticed him standing there, and hurriedly wiped the wetness away. "I didn't hear you."

"Fi," he asked softly as he walked towards her and crouched down beside her chair. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," she told him, offering him what she hoped was a confident smile, but failed miserably. When she moved to stand up, he put his hand on her arm to stop her.

"Fiona?"

"It's hormones," she lied as she swallowed back the lump in her throat. "I'm fine."

Michael knew her well enough to know when she was lying to him; she could never look him straight in the eyes. Fiona wasn't a crier. Yes since she became pregnant she'd had bouts of tears, but he also knew that he was the cause of most of her sadness. He'd obsessed over his burn notice for the past four years, pulling her along with him. He knew his actions had hurt her on more than one occasion, but he'd never stopped to comprehend just how much she was willing to sacrifice for him.

Standing quickly he lifted her legs from the chair and sat down, replacing her feet on his lap. He watched her carefully as he ran the palm of his hand over her bare feet and lower legs.

He could see her battling with her emotions and when he reached out to take a hold of her hand, she turned her head away so he couldn't see fresh tears gathering in her eyes. He watched her carefully as he stroked her hand with his thumb, trying to find the words to express to her just how much he was happy to be home.

"How long have we got?" she asked quietly. She could feel his worry when he stroked her legs with his fingers, but her heart was aching with sadness because she knew this visit, or whatever it was, would soon be over.

"For what?" he asked, squeezing her hand so she would look at him.

She turned to him then, her eyes full of so much emotion that it caused him to gasp in a breath.

"I need to know how long we have until you leave." Her eyes focused on his fingers that stroked her skin before she looked up into his eyes. "I feel like I'm doing this on my own Michael, I really do…and it's so hard."

"I'm sorry," he slid his hand further up her legs, stopping at her knees. "I know it hasn't been easy on either of us, but this _is_ for us. When it's over—"

"It'll never be over," she told him quickly, her voice catching as she spoke. "Even when you've completed these jobs they want, there will always be something else to take you away."

"Fi—"

"Do you know what a birth plan is Michael?" she asked him sombrely. When he shook his head she sighed heavily and dropped her gaze to their joined hands. "I have to decide if I want pain relief, how I want to have the baby and who my birth partner will be…do you know what I wrote down for that last part Michael?"

Michael caught her sorrowful gaze when she lifted her eyes back up to his and shook his head.

"I didn't write anything," she told him in a whisper. "I didn't want to write your name knowing that when the time comes, you'll be off on one of your god damn missions."

"I _will_ be there Fi, I promise you—"

"You promised you'd be there for the sonogram," she told him, annoyance growing in her voice as she moved her legs from his lap to stand up. "I wanted you to be the first man to feel your baby move, but you weren't here…I _really_ don't want to do this on my own…but if I have to—"

"You won't," he told her quickly as he stood up to place his hands on both of her shoulders. "I want to be here, Fi. I will do everything I can to be here." When she didn't answer he lifted her chin with his finger and looked into her eyes. "Remember I told you I met someone who pulled some strings to get me home?"

She nodded silently, scanning his eyes when he moved closer to touch his forehead to hers. "Who is this mystery man?"

"I wish I could tell you Fi," he sighed. "But he's looking into my file and he's confident he can help us."

"Help us do what exactly?" she sighed heavily. "I can't go home. I can't even tell my family about the baby…is he going to wave a magic wand and make all of our enemies disappear?"

"No, but he's working on it. He knows how important it is for me to be home." When she didn't answer, he reached over to lace his fingers with hers, hoping to convey everything he was feeling into that one touch.

"Sometimes I wonder if this is what you really want," she chanced a look at his face. "I know you, Michael. You never wanted this…"

"I _do_ want this," he told her, placing a soft kiss onto her forehead before pulling away to smile down at her. "I think these last few weeks have taught me more about myself and what I want."

"I don't want you to leave because you think you have to. I want you to leave because you want to," sighing heavily, Fiona shook her head and closed her eyes briefly before opening them again when he kissed her forehead.

"It's time for me to move on," he told her softly as he pulled back slightly and coaxed her eyes up to his again. "I have something for you."

"What?" she asked when he stepped back and took her by the hand to lead her back inside the loft. She followed him when he pulled her gently with him and allowed him to sit her on the edge of the bed.

He let go of her hands and walked over to the bathroom where he had thrown his bag onto the floor and picked it up to bring it back over to the bed. Carefully, his fingers unzipped the bag before he delved his hand inside and rummaged for the envelope he was searching for.

Moving back towards the bed he knelt down in front of her and handed her the battered envelope. She looked up at him questioningly before dropping her eyes onto the envelope in her hands.

"It's for you," he told her gently as he stood up. "I'll be in the shower if you need me."

"What is it?" she asked quietly before he turned away.

"I honestly don't know," he shrugged as he bent over to place a soft kiss onto her head.

Fiona watched him walk away then dropped her eyes to the envelope in her hands. Turning it over, she regarded it carefully before sliding her finger under the seal, ripping it open. As soon as the seal was broken, several photographs fell out onto her lap and she found herself staring down at them in shock.

Smiling faces looked back up at her, and for a few moments she couldn't move. With shaking fingers she lifted one of the photos and gazed down at it, tears blurring her vision. It was a photo of her mother, one she hadn't seen before. She looked older and her hair had lost most of its redness, leaving her with large streaks of grey.

A single tear escaped from her eyes to carve a track down her cheek as she picked up the next photo. She couldn't help but laugh when she saw her little twin nephews covered head to toe in mud. They were mere babies when she last saw them, now they were at least seven and looking every bit like their father.

Fiona scanned through the remaining photos and by the time she had reached the final one she was sobbing softly. Turning, she spread them all out over the bed so that she could see them all.

Michael came back into the room and sat down beside her. Reaching across he laid a hand on her arm and stroked her soft skin.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly as he laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes," she told him quickly as she turned to face him with a tearful smile. "It's the best gift you have ever given me…how did you—"

"I met up with Sean when I—" taking a breath, he caught himself before he could say more.

"You were in Ireland?" she asked softly, sudden understanding forming in her mind. "The president's visit…you were there…oh god…Michael, how are they? Did you speak to them? Is my mother—"

"Fi," he told her quickly, cutting her off mid sentence. "I only saw Sean briefly and that was by pure accident. He smuggled these out to me when I was leaving and just wanted to know why I was there without you."

"What did you tell him?" she asked with a rueful smile. "We Glenanne's aren't known for our patience!"

"Believe me I know," he chuckled.

"You didn't tell him about the baby?" she asked worriedly. "They can't know…they can't—"

"It's okay," he told her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I didn't tell him anything. I'm not going to risk anyone taking this baby away from us."

She nodded slowly when she looked into his eyes. She could see the same sadness in his gaze as her own. There were so many reasons why having a baby was such a bad idea, but right now she couldn't think of a single one.

"I wish I could tell them. My mother would be so happy to know I've finally stopped being so angry," she told him before looking over the pictures on the bed again. "I want our baby to know about its Irish family."

Michael's hand slipped down her arm and over to her rounded stomach, resting his palm against her. He still marvelled by the small movements that fluttered beneath his hand.

"We'll make sure this baby knows Fi," he told her as he leaned his head against her.

"I have something to show you too," she told him with a warm smile as she leaned across the bed to retrieve the sonogram photo of their child and handed it to him.

Michael gazed down at it in wonder, his eyes taking in the image of their tiny child. Something changed in his face when he ran a finger over the image before placing it onto the bed. Turning back towards the woman beside him, he surprised her by reaching for her to wind his arms around her small frame.

Fiona didn't know what to say anymore. She felt his arms tighten around her waist as he pulled her to him in a fierce embrace. His whole body shook along with hers. Suddenly he pulled her head up to gaze into her eyes, a smile dancing across his face. Then before she knew what was happening his lips were on hers, kissing her with a passion that felt so different from before.

Her arms left his sides to glide up his shoulders to tangle her hands in his hair. She pulled him closer to her, taking his breath from his body as she sank into his lips. She felt his arms encase her, pulling her to him as he deepened their kiss, opening his mouth to draw her inside. Fiona thought she was going to melt in his arms with the sheer force of his adoration.

Breaking the kiss he left her lips, panting heavily as he held his forehead to hers. "I'm going to be a father," he told her, bringing her into his arms again.

Fiona couldn't help but smile at him. "You've only just realised?"

"No…yes…I guess it didn't seem real before."

"It's real," she laughed. "I promise you."

She pulled his face down to hers again for another earth shattering kiss, igniting him with her passion before letting him go, reluctantly pulling away from his arms to hold onto his hands.

"It's my check up today so I have to be at your mom's. She didn't want me to have my appointments here, and I don't really want a lecture from the doctor to why this isn't the right environment to raise a child," sighing heavily she huffed out a breath before moving away from him to stand up. "I mean, I know we can't have the baby here…does he think I'm that stupid!"

"That's the next priority," he told her thoughtfully when he stood up to take her hand in his. "I don't know when I'm going to be called away again, but I promise as soon as we can, we'll find a new place."

"I have another sonogram in four weeks," she told him quietly. "It's more detailed and we could find out the sex of the baby if we wanted…I really want you to be here."

"I'll be here," he told her with an enthusiastic nod.

000

When they got to Madeline's, she fussed over both of them and ushered Fiona into Michael's old room where the doctor was waiting for her. Michael was just about to follow when Madeline turned to him and flicked him around the head.

"Oww," he griped. "Maaa…what was that for?"

"That, Michael, is for leaving that poor girl _again_…to deal with being pregnant and alone with _your_ baby, _again_…I am so mad at you right now…"

"I know ma, I know," he sighed, rubbing a hand over the back of his head where she'd flicked him. "I'm trying not to be away for so long."

"Well try harder," she snapped. "You have a responsibility to Fiona and your _child_. I didn't raise you to be an absentee father, Michael—"

"_That_ is something I will _never_ be," he told her, keeping his voice low as he spoke. "I'm going to be here for both of them. Fiona already knows that."

"Yeah, well she's trying to protect you because you don't see what she's going through when you're not here." Taking a cigarette out of her pouch, she put it to her lips and watched him intently as she lit it. "She needs you, even though she'll never admit it."

"I will be here," he repeated slowly, frustration seeping into his words. They stared at each other in silence for a few moments, his eyes flashed with annoyance until Fiona came back into the room adjusting her shirt.

"Is everything okay?" Michael asked her when he reached out to stroke her arm.

"I'm fine," she nodded as she looked from mother to son and back again before turning to address the doctor who held out a new prescription for her pre-natal vitamins.

"I'll see you in another four weeks, but any problems call me right away," the doctor told her with a smile.

"Thank you," Fiona nodded before Madeline stubbed her cigarette out in an ashtray and wafted the smoke away from her.

"Come on honey," she smiled at the younger woman and took her by the arm. She cast a glare towards her son as she led Fiona into the kitchen. "I made you some iced tea."

Michael sighed heavily and turned towards the doctor who patted him on the shoulder.

"Good luck," he told him before he walked towards the door and left the house.

"Oh boy, brother," Sam told him with a sympathetic pat on the back before handing him a beer. "You've landed yourself in a heap full of trouble my friend."

"Tell me about it," Michael sighed heavily before turning away from his friend to walk towards whatever trouble awaited him in the kitchen.

000

Four weeks later they were at the darkened clinic after it had closed for the day; both of them watching the doctor as he silently ran the scanner across her stomach.

Michael's eyes gazed at the screen in wonder when the doctor took measurements of their tiny baby. Fiona glanced across at his face and squeezed his fingers when he couldn't seem to take his eyes away from the image on the screen.

"Everything is progressing normally," the doctor told them as he manoeuvred the hand held scanner across her stomach to get the best images of the baby. "Did you want to know the sex?"

Fiona glanced at Michael questioningly and tugged on his hand to bring his eyes down to hers. "Do we?"

"What?" he asked in confusion. "Sorry…I was…"

She smiled, following his gaze again back to the screen. "Do we want to know what we're having?"

"I…yes…do we?" his mouth wouldn't seem to work and his words kept sticking in his throat. Tearing his eyes away from the image he looked down at her with a watery smile. "Yes, we should know."

"Okay," she nodded and looked back towards the screen again.

"Well then," the doctor smiled. "Say hello to your daughter."

"A girl?" Fiona gasped as her eyes flashed with happy tears. "We're having a girl."

Michael couldn't seem to speak. His mind was buzzing with images of a little girl with her mother's eyes and beautiful smile. In that one moment everything became clear in his mind. This was the life he wanted.

000

Later that night, Fiona pulled on one of the maternity dresses she'd brought a few weeks before and regarded herself in the mirror. No matter which way she turned, there was no mistaking her pregnant form.

"Michael, are you sure you want to go out to dinner with your mom, Jesse and Sam?" she asked worriedly as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"What?" he laughed softly. "Of course I do…why?"

Turning around to face him she threw her hands to the side in defeat before returning to stare at herself in the mirror again. "I can't hide it no matter what I wear…I've gone through everything in my closet."

"Fi, you look beautiful," he told her with a smile as he stepped up behind her to join her reflection in the mirror.

"I'm huge," she grumbled, leaning back into his chest.

"No you're not," he chuckled happily when he slid his hands around her from behind to move over her swelling belly. "You're pregnant."

"But no one else is supposed to know that…" she sighed. "How am I supposed to hide it now?"

"Fiona, we're going to be fine."

"Do you really believe that?" she asked his reflection, still unable to keep the worry from her eyes.

"Yes."

"But I thought you didn't want anyone to know yet."

"I never said I didn't want anyone to know," he told her softly as he pressed a gentle kiss behind her ear.

"Well, I've tried to suck my stomach in but this baby is having none of it…I mean, with my legs and your feet, the poor child's already doomed!"

"What's wrong with your legs?" he grinned teasingly, loving the way her eyes lit up as she stared back at him in the mirror.

"You're not helping!"

"Sorry," he chuckled as he moved away from her to turn her around to face him. "Stop worrying. You're pregnant…and it's about time we stopped hiding and just came out with it."

"Just like that?" she asked incredulously.

"Just think of Barry's face when he finds out." His eyes lit up mischievously as he pulled her against him to wrap her in a strong embrace.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" she asked him with a smile as she melted into his arms.

Pulling back he slid his hands down her arms before linking their fingers together. "This is our chance to take everyone we know head on and answer their questions together."

"Yeah, I guess," she sighed as she looked up into his eyes. "But are you sure you're ready to give up your job?"

"It's time," he told her. "And I don't want you to raise our children on your own while I'm off in some other country."

Fiona sighed and closed her eyes when he kissed her cheek before he turned away from her to walk towards the bathroom. Her eyes sprang open when she suddenly realised what he'd just said.

"Children?" she asked worriedly, following him. "How many children are you expecting here?"

When he turned to offer her a teasing smile, she scowled at him as he moved towards the sink to splash water on his face.

"That isn't funny Michael," she told him huffily. "I may be pregnant but I can still kick your ass!"

Michael held his hands up in defeat when he came back towards her to take hold of her wayward hand.

"Are you ready?" he asked her with a bright smile, when he slipped on his suit jacket.

"Yep, just hang on a minute," walking towards the bed, she reached under her pillow to pull her SIG from under it and put it in her bag.

"Fi," he sighed incredulously. "We're going out to dinner with my mom, Jesse and Sam!"

"A girl has to be prepared Michael," she told him with a smile as she gave herself one last look in the mirror. "Okay, I'm ready."

000

When they arrived at the restaurant, Fiona tried to keep her eyes away from the other diners in the room. She felt exposed and unprotected out in the open, showing off her very pregnant form. So far she'd managed to hide her pregnancy with large flowing tops and sundresses, but there was no mistaking it now.

Madeline stood up when they approached, casting a beaming smile their way.

"Sweetheart, you look wonderful," she gushed as she took Fiona's hand and pulled her into a warm embrace.

"You think so?" Fiona asked worriedly, smoothing the material over her stomach. She smilied when Madeline nodded enthusiastically, helping her to relax a little.

Michael placed his hand in the small of her back to guide her towards her chair and nodded to Sam and Jesse before giving his mother a cautious smile.

"You scrub up nice Fi," Sam grinned, holding up a bottle of beer.

"Why thank you Sam," she was taken aback by his compliment and felt herself blush slightly.

"You look beautiful, Fi," Jesse nodded towards her with his mouth slightly agape.

When they sat down, Michael's hand reached for hers under the table and she glanced at him questioningly. She had no idea why she was so nervous; it wasn't as if they were announcing her pregnancy to their unsuspecting family.

"So how did the sonogram go?" Madeline asked quietly when she leaned across the table.

"Great ma," Michael's wide smile spoke volumes and he was just about to reach inside his pocket for the new sonogram photo when his cell phone started to ring.

Fiona watched the smile slip from his face when he looked down at the caller ID and she instantly knew what that meant.

"I have to take this," he told her apologetically as he stood up and left the restaurant in a hurry.

The four people at the table sat in silence, none of them wanting to confirm something that they already knew. Michael was going to be leaving again, and when he came rushing back into the room to take Fiona's hand, she didn't have to listen to know what he was trying to tell her.

"I have to leave right away," he told her in a whisper. He reached into his pocket to pull out the sonogram photo and handed it to her.

"Take it with you," she told him tightly, as she tried desperately to swallow the lump in her throat.

"I can't. I don't know where I'm going and I can't have any personal effects on me." Reaching over to her he pressed a soft kiss onto her lips before pulling back. "I'm sorry."

"Just go," she told him quickly, averting her eyes before he could see the tears pooling in them.

"Fi?"

"I'm fine," she swallowed the lump in her throat and turned to look at him unable to keep the bitterness from her voice. "Go."

Michael squeezed her hand one more time as he reluctantly stood beside her. He glanced at Sam who nodded in an unspoken answer before he turned around and left the restaurant.

tbc


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you again for all of your reviews and PM's, it is very much appreciated.**

**Special thanks as always to Purdy's Pal for her help with this chapter**

Chapter 7

Silence greeted Fiona when she opened the door to the loft. It seemed strange how the emptiness beckoned, its soothing hush engulfing her. Walking inside she threw her bag onto the bed haphazardly and looked blearily down at the key she still held in her hand.

Hot tears gathered in her eyes, but she blinked them away. She was so tired of feeling like this. Since his return, Michael had made her feel so special, showing her just how much she meant to him. He'd given her more of himself than he'd ever given her in the past, and it meant so much to her. But his departure had left a hole in her life that took longer to close every time he went away.

Throwing her keys onto the bedside table, she sank down onto her bed and buried her face into her hands. She was so tired but she doubted she would be able to sleep now. How could she when her mind was reliving the last few hours over and over again? She couldn't seem to shake the memory of the saddened glances of her three friends at the dinner table, no matter how much she tried to erase it.

She and Michael had been prepared for his departure, but even though they knew that the call could come at any time, it still didn't expunge the ache inside her. The metal gates downstairs suddenly scraped open breaking through her thoughts and putting her on high alert. She pulled her SIG out of her bag before walking tentatively towards the door, yanking it open with her gun drawn.

Jesse held his arms up in the air and regarded her carefully before lowering his hands again. "Hi, Fi…I…uh…"

Fiona suddenly felt very conscious of the fact that he would see the obvious signs of tears. In a vain attempt to mask her features, she lowered her eyes from his briefly only to raise them again to look upon him, silently challenging him to comment on her appearance.

"I just wanted to check up on you and see if you're okay," Jesse's voice was unusually soft; his eyes searching her sorrow filled ones.

Fiona stepped aside silently, not trusting her own voice. She closed the door as soon as he was inside and turned around to see him staring at her flushed face. Wordlessly she turned away from him and walked towards the kitchen, hiding behind her false façade.

Jesse's eyes were drawn to the new additions in the loft. There were shelves containing snow globes and photos that weren't there on his last visit. There was a definite presence of Fiona all around the loft, and from that moment he envied the life that Michael Westen was seemingly willing to leave behind.

"So, are you doing okay?" His asked, his voice tender as he spoke.

Her hands stilled when she reached for a glass from the cupboard but she pushed the agitation away. Instead she filled the empty glass with water and took a long gulp, keeping her back to him.

"I'm fine," she told him when she replaced the glass in the sink. "Michael and I knew this was coming."

"I know," he nodded awkwardly as he fiddled with the car keys in his hand. "Do you need anything?"

She walked towards the refrigerator to pull the door open. There were four pots of Yogurt inside that Michael had brought earlier that day and she found herself slamming the door closed against the reminder of his absence. After a few seconds she opened the refrigerator door again and pulled the offending pots out with both hands and placed them onto the counter in front of him.

"I need you to take these," she told him, gesturing towards the counter. "Since I became pregnant I can't stand the smell of Yogurt. I doubt Michael will be back before they spoil."

"That's not exactly what I meant," he told her softly as he stepped closer.

"Jesse," she sighed. "I'm fine. I know you all think that because I'm pregnant I've somehow lost the ability to function—"

"None of us think that Fi."

"I'm not going to break like some china doll," she snapped. "I'm a big girl, I can handle being alone."

"I know," he held his hands up in mock surrender. "I worry about you."

"Well don't," she told him angrily. "I'm fine."

"I…can go if that's what you want," he hovered near her and watched her carefully, "But, I could stay for a while if you want some company…if you wanted to talk or something…"

Fiona stared at him questioningly, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. Shaking her head she was about to tell him that she was doing just fine on her own when she felt his fingers brush over her arm briefly before he pulled his hand away again just as quickly.

"I said I'm fine," she told him fiercely when he reached to touch her again. She stepped back quickly, fixing him with her steely gaze. "What the hell are you doing?" she growled, "I _love_ Michael."

"What?" he asked suddenly, shaking his head and moving away from her. "I know that, I didn't mean for you to think I…never mind…"

"Jesse," she sighed heavily and closed her eyes briefly to shake off the fatigue. Opening them again, she regarded him coolly. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here as _your_ friend," he told her quickly, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "I was worried about you when Michael just upped and left you in the middle of the restaurant. There are people around who actually care about you Fi. I just wanted to make sure you were okay…that's all. Look maybe I should just go…it's been a rough few hours…"

"Yeah…look, I'm sorry…I'm just tired," she nodded as she watched him walk towards the door. "Thanks for stopping by."

He cast her one final glance before he opened the door and stepped outside. "You're not on your own…call if you need me okay…Bye Fi."

When he was gone Fiona took in a deep breath and took another look around the loft. It felt so empty. Her eyes were drawn to the pots of yogurt stacked on the counter and for a moment she considered throwing them in the trash, but she couldn't seem to do it. Picking them up, she pushed them back into the refrigerator and closed the door again.

With a heavy sigh she made her way towards the shelves that Michael had built for her and picked up one of the photo frames. Her mother's smiling face looked back at her and all she could do was trace her finger over the glass. She missed her family more than she'd ever admit, and it was only in these moments of solitude that she would ever let her emotions for them run free.

Taking a deep shaky breath she replaced the photo frame back onto the shelf and sat down in Michael's favourite green chair. She had to start thinking of the future. She couldn't bring the baby up here in the loft, not that Madeline would ever let her. She had to start looking for houses, somewhere that would be suitable to raise a child, and she had to do it soon. The baby would be here in less than five months.

Her cell phone vibrated inside her bag and she reached for it, intending to turn it off until she saw the name on the screen. Lifting it to her ear she breathed in deeply, her heart thumping inside her chest when she spoke the caller's name on a whisper.

"Michael…"

"_I'm sorry."_

"It's okay," she told him softly, her voice catching as she spoke. "We knew this was coming…I'm okay, Michael, really."

"As soon as I get back we'll start looking for houses okay, anywhere you want to go…Fi…"

"Okay."

"_Look I have to go. I'll get a message to you as soon as I can…are you gonna be okay?"_

"You know me Michael," she sighed heavily. "I'm always okay."

"Fi…I…"

"I know," she told him softly when a stray tear spilled over onto her cheek. "Me too."

The phone clicked to silence and she took it away from her ear to stare down at the blank screen. Throwing the phone onto the bed, she swiped at the wetness on her cheek. It was time she got her life back on track. While Michael was away doing whatever it was he was doing, she would do whatever she could to speed up the moving process here. With a determined smile, she got up from the chair and made her way towards the bathroom making up her mind that she would start looking for houses in the morning.

000

When Sam came over to the loft the following morning, he was surprised to see Fiona humming to herself and loading blocks of C-4, wire and detonators into a large bag that she had on the metal work bench.

"Uh, Fi…what'ya doin'?"

"A friend of mine has a friend who's had some break ins down her street, and she asked me to lay some _security_ traps for her. Pay's pretty good too," she told him with a grin. "Did you want something?"

"Uh, no…just wanted to check in and see how you're doin'."

"Well don't I feel special," she teased. "First Jesse and now you…anyone would think you were worried about me!"

"Well Maddie's worried about ya, can't say the same for the rest of us," he told her feigning exasperation. "She wants me to bring you over to her house by the way."

"Can't, I'm busy," she zipped up the bag and moved to lift it off the table but he got to it first.

"If you insist on doing these jobs without me at least remember not to lift anything heavy," he groused. "Mike will have my hide if anything happen to you."

"Well he's not here," she smiled sweetly. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"Oh he'll know," Sam huffed. "Now, where's this job of yours?"

He expected a retort and a lecture as to why she could carry things herself, but it never came. When he turned to look back at her questioningly she was just staring at him in bewilderment.

"What?" he asked, ready for some sarcastic remark, but all she gave him was a pat on the arm as she opened the door for him.

"Want to help me set some traps?" she asked him with a wide smile.

"Oh I'm sorry, was that you asking for my help?" he grinned.

"I'll let you carry the bags," she sing songed, her beaming smile radiating as she spoke. "Come on, it'll be fun…I'll even buy you a beer when we're done…"

"Okay…but no taking chances, you hear me missy…"

"I'll be good," she grinned as she opened the door to usher him through.

000

Fiona shook her head and laughed when Sam left her in the back yard to go and talk to Mrs Taylor, their forty-eight year old client. The pair of them had been overly chatty since she and Sam had walked through the door.

Fiona had already set explosives wired to a trip wire throughout the back windows, humming to herself as she worked. She was just putting some _small_ explosives inside the wooden railings at the back of the house when Sam returned with a beaming smile adorning his face.

"Well don't you look happy?" She told him as she continued to set charges to the wooden railings around the house

"You know Fi, you're not blowing up a fortress here. At least leave the house intact!"

"Oh Sam, you worry too much," she told him with a smile. "If anyone tries to come into this house they'll have a surprise waiting for them."

"It'll be one hell of a surprise," he told her when she handed him the pliers she had in her hand. "Are you about done here?"

"Yep," she grinned as she stood up to admire her handiwork. "All done."

"Great," he rubbed his hands together and picked the bag up from the floor. "I'll get a ride back with you before my date with Angela."

"You hit on Mrs Taylor?" She asked as she shook her head. "Why am I not surprised!"

"Hey when you've got it sister!" he grinned as he ushered her off of the porch, walking her back to the car.

000

Later that afternoon, Madeline moved around the vacant house while Fiona stood at the window, looking out at the yard. She tried to imagine herself living here with Michael and the baby, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't do it.

"It's nice," Madeline told her when she walked back into the room to join Fiona and ran her fingers over the dusty windowsill. When she lifted her hands to examine her fingers she screwed her nose up and wiped her hands on the curtains with disgust. "It needs some cleaning."

"I don't know Madeline," Fiona sighed. "There's no place to keep my C-4 and it's a little too open for my liking…too many security hazards. I'm not sure Michael would like living here."

"Sweetheart, he'd live anywhere as long as you were happy. If this house doesn't make you want to move in right away then it's not the right house." Madeline reached out and patted her on the shoulder before moving away to go and find the realtor.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she sighed as she took one last look around the room before joining Madeline outside.

"Do you have anything else?" Madeline asked when Fiona came to stand beside her in the warm sunshine.

"We do have a house just new to us today, it's in a nice neighbourhood, good schools," Lucy told them with a sickly smile. "It's close to the beach and has a separate garage. I didn't mention it before because it may be a little too big for a single mother raising a child."

Fiona flashed an angry glare at the woman stood before her and opened her mouth to tell her where she could stick her house, but Madeline stepped in before she had a chance.

"Lucy," Madeline stepped closer and offered the young woman a false smile before it fell from her lips to be replaced by a look of infuriation. "My daughter in law is not a single mother, and she will never _be_ a single mother." Letting her features fall, she sniffed a little and pulled a Kleenex out of her bag to dab at her eyes. "My son is out there fighting for his country and we all miss him…"

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry," Lucy looked from one woman to the other becoming increasingly flustered.

"That's okay honey," Madeline sniffed as she pulled a cigarette from her pouch and put it to her lips. "I know you didn't mean to upset my _pregnant_ daughter in law."

Fiona whimpered slightly and wiped false tears from her eyes. "It's so hard without him," she sniffed, allowing Madeline to put an arm around her shoulders. "I don't think we could afford a new house if anything happened—"

"Let me take care of the price," Lucy's voice gushed out quickly as she looked through the paperwork she had brought with her. "I insist you have the first look at the house and I'm sure I can get you a cheaper price—"

Fiona sniffed again and buried her head into Madeline's shoulder. Madeline pretended to comfort the younger woman while keeping a keen eye on the realtor.

"I _know_ I can get you a cheaper price," Lucy promised as she looked at the scene before her. "I'm so sorry for upsetting you…I'll call my boss right now…be right back…"

As soon as Lucy was out of sight, Fiona lifted her head and beamed an impressed smile at Madeline. "You're good."

"If I learned anything from Michael's father it was how to put on an act," she told her with a triumphant smile as she lit her cigarette.

Fiona moved closer to her again when Lucy came back towards them and hesitated slightly. "We can go and see the house now and if you like it we'll negotiate a price."

"Thank you," Madeline told her softly as she puffed on her cigarette and rubbed Fiona's back. "She's still a little upset."

"I'm so sorry," Lucy whispered apologetically as she slowly backed away and hurried towards her car.

When she was out of sight, Fiona lifted her head and leaned in to Madeline's side, hugging her loosely with one arm. "I'm taking you with me when I buy the furniture!"

"Anytime sweetheart," Madeline beamed. "Now, let's go see this house."

000

Later that evening, Fiona sat at Madeline's kitchen table looking over the pictures of the house they'd been to see that day. It was perfect, exactly what they needed for a family home, and extra space for their _work items_.

Lucy had promised to hold the house for a month, or until Michael was able to see it. All in all it had been a constructive day.

Fiona's cell phone buzzed beside her and she picked up to put it to her ear. "Hi Sam…what? Okay, I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

Madeline looked up at her when she stood up and placed her SIG into her bag. Delving inside the bag again she took out her Taser, examining it carefully before putting it back into her bag.

"What's wrong? Is Sam in trouble?" Madeline asked as she stubbed her cigarette out into an ashtray.

"His new lady friend's intruder turned out to be her own step-son, Sam's holding him now…I shouldn't be too long…"

"Hold on, I'll come with you," Madeline told her as she grabbed her cigarette pouch from the table and followed her out of the door.

Sam had Angela's teenage step-son tied to a garden chair when Fiona and Madeline arrived. The back porch was charred and still burning from where Fiona had set her explosive traps.

"Let's go through this again," Sam paced backwards and forwards in from the young man, "you're visiting your mother but you decide to climb through the window?"

"I forgot my key," he groaned as he shrunk back into the wooden garden chair. "I didn't expect to have my hand nearly blown off!"

"Hey Sam," Fiona sing songed his name when she came to stand beside him. "Where's Angela?"

"In the house," he gestured towards the front door. "Poor woman is pretty upset that this idiot son of hers was trying to steal from her."

"I'll go and talk her," Madeline told them as she moved passed the pair of them to walk into the house. "Maybe I can help."

The teenage boy laughed when Fiona came to Sam's side. "What you gonna do _bitch_…are you gonna hold the old man's hand?_"_

"Watch your mouth," Sam growled. "Didn't anyone tell you it's not nice to swear in front of a lady?"

"Aww Sam," Fiona beamed. "That is so sweet!"

Sam was about to answer when the boy lunged forward and head butted Fiona in the side, knocking her to the ground with a thump. Sam reacted on instinct, punching the step-son clean in the jaw before falling to his knees beside the woman on the floor.

"Fi, are you okay?" he asked worriedly when she took her time to sit up.

"Yeah," she breathed deeply, swallowing hard when she took his offered hand to pull her up. Turning to the man on the chair she threw a punch at him, smacking into his nose with such a force that Sam could clearly hear the bones shatter. "I'm pregnant you bast—"

"Fi," Sam pulled her hand back when she moved to strike him again. "I think you broke his nose."

"I'll break more than his damn nose," she growled, snapping her arms away from Sam to deliver another blow to the man's face, sending him and the chair to fall backwards on the ground.

"Ahhh," he groaned, reeling in pain. "Keep that crazy bitch away from me…"

Fiona stood beside Sam, her fists clenched when she suddenly stopped and took in a sharp breath. Reaching out, she grabbed a fistful of Sam's shirt and gasped in a breath.

"Oh god…"

"What?" he gasped, grabbing hold of her hand to keep her from falling. "Fi?"

Madeline came running out of the house, followed closely by Angela who stopped on the porch to stare wide eyed at the scene before her.

"Fiona," Madeline asked urgently as she hurried towards them and eased the younger woman's hand from Sam's to help her sit down on the ground. "Does it hurt?"

"Madeline," Fiona gasped, her eyes wide with fear. "I can't lose her…don't let me lose her…"

"You're not going to lose this baby sweetheart," she soothed. "Now tell me where it hurts."

Sam swallowed heavily and looked towards Angela who was staring at the scene in horror. Her eyes met his and she shook her head before hurrying towards her step-son who was still tied to the chair and bleeding all over the grass.

"How could you Matthew?" she seethed. "It's not enough that you steel from everyone in the neighbourhood, you have to steal from me too?"

"Angela, I'm sorry," Sam offered as he moved towards the chair, sitting the injured Matthew back so that he was upright. "I need to leave you to deal with this. I'll call you."

"Leave him there for the police," Angela told him before she moved towards Fiona who was taking deep breaths and blowing them out again slowly. "I'm so sorry…"

Madeline nodded slowly and returned her attention back to her 'daughter in law' "Deep breath's, that's it honey," she soothed, stroking Fiona's arm with her fingers.

"Madeline," Fiona slowed her breathing and relaxed against Madeline's arm. "I think it's okay...the pain has gone…"

Sam exchanged worried glances with Madeline who was holding onto Fiona like her life depended on it.

"You're staying with me tonight," Madeline told her forcefully. "No arguments, you'll do as I tell you."

Fiona looked to Sam for support but he shook his head. "Not this time sister, I'm with Maddie on this one…"

"Sam can you get Fi's car, we need to get her home," Madeline told him urgently when she rummaged through Fiona's bag to find her car keys, throwing them to him as she held onto the younger woman.

"I feel fine now," Fiona told her, even though her body was shaking. "He just winded me."

"You need to get checked out," Madeline told her, rubbing her hand over the younger woman's arm. "Just to be sure."

Sam drove the car around and jumped out of the driver's side to hold the door open for Fiona to sit inside while Madeline got into the driver's seat. He looked over towards Angela who was shaking her head in an apology, but he just waved at her before he moved towards his own car, following Madeline as she sped her car out of the street like a mad woman

000

Peter Manson came out of the bedroom and looked at the two anxious people sitting at the table. Madeline was smoking her eight cigarette in under ten minutes and Sam was building a tower out of empty beer bottles.

"How is she?" Madeline asked quickly as she stubbed her cigarette out into the nearby ashtray.

"She very lucky," he told them honestly as he packed his stethoscope back into his bag. "The baby is healthy and I've explained to her that if she was to go into labour now she would lose the child. I've ordered her to rest, no working, no exerting herself and no lifting anything heavier than a coffee cup."

"Oh boy," Sam winced. "And you got out of that room alive?"

"I'm going in to see her," Madeline told the two men before she stood up and walked towards Fiona's room.

When she entered she was shocked to see Fiona laying perfectly still and staring out of the window. Walking over towards the bed, Madeline sat on the edge of the mattress and reached for her hand.

"Hey honey, you doing okay?"

Fiona blinked heavily and turned her head towards Madeline with tear filled eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered softly.

"What for?" Madeline asked as she shifted closer.

"I could have lost her…I didn't think…" a single tear slipped from her lashes to slide down her cheek as she closed her eyes. "How am I going to be a good mother when I didn't even think about her?"

"It doesn't work like that sweetheart," she soothed. "When this baby comes, you and Michael are going to be wonderful parents."

"How can you be sure?" Fiona asked unconvinced as she lifted her free hand to wipe the wetness from her face.

"Because I know you, and I know Michael. You would both rather die than see anything happen to this baby."

Madeline watched Fiona's face relax a little and moved closer to squeeze her fingers, bringing her eyes back to hers.

"So you're having a girl?" she asked with a wide smile. "I'm going to have a granddaughter?"

"Yeah," Fiona nodded her head and smiled. "We were going to tell you at dinner, but…well…"

"I know," Madeline patted her hand. "Get some rest honey, we'll talk about everything tomorrow when you're feeling better."

Fiona nodded silently and watched Madeline until she left the room. When the door closed behind her, she sighed heavily and moved her hands to lie over her stomach, caressing the baby that moved beneath her palm.

"I'm going to be a good mother," she whispered as she looked down to her rounded stomach, moving her fingers to follow the movements beneath her hand. "I promise…"

tbc


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you again for all of your kind reviews and PM's. I really do appreciate it. **

**To a couple of reviewers regarding Fiona being emotional. Pregnancy is a strange thing that affects women in different ways. My first pregnancy was pretty much like Fiona's. I went from being fine one minute and crying over everything the next. So yes, it can be pretty much a sobfest!**

**This chapter is more light hearted and has gushy romance in it. After the last couple of intense chapters I got carried away with all the romance in season 5. I'm posting this early because I'm off on a girls night at the weekend to see Harry Potter, and I know I'll be too distracted.**

**This is dedicated to the wonderful Purdy's Pal and DaisyDay, two of the nicest people I've ever known**

8

It was 2am on a Sunday morning when Michael opened the door to the loft and made his way inside. It had been two weeks since he'd left Fiona in the restaurant and the look of disappointment in her eyes had haunted him the entire time he was away.

Placing his bag onto the floor he crept inside and tried to be as quiet as he could, intent on crawling into bed beside her while she slept.

At first it didn't register that the loft seemed strangely quiet until he made his way over towards the bed to find it empty. Panic soared through him when he looked around the loft for any signs of disturbance, but there were none that he could see.

"Fi," he called out into the darkness, hopeful that she was only in the bathroom. When silence greeted him he pulled out his phone and dialled her number, hoping he could hear her voice over his raging heartbeat.

When the call connected it went straight to voicemail, causing him to moan in frustration while he redialled her number only to have the same message again. Where was she?

In desperation he dialled Sam's number, pacing back and forth until he heard his friends groggy voice at the other end of the phone.

"Sam?"

_"Mikey?" Sam's voice was thick with sleep when he answered. "It's two in the morning, don't you know by now to work out the time difference?"_

"I'm at the loft, Sam. Where Fiona? She's not here," his voice was near desperate as he cast another look around the loft, hoping that there may have been something he'd missed on his first observation.

_"Calm down brother, she's at your mom's. Probably sleeping if she knows what's good for her."_

"My mom's…why? She didn't want to stay there while I was gone…Sam—"

"_Listen Mikey, she didn't have any choice. Your mom took charge when Fi got hurt on a job two weeks ago. Now she won't let her out of her sight."_

"WHAT?" Michael's voice boomed. "She got hurt? How? What happened?"

"_Look Mike she's fine, she just got knocked over by some guy out robbing his step mom's house. The doc checked her over and her and the baby are doing okay."_

"Why didn't anyone try and get a message to me? I'd have tried to get home sooner. God Sam—"

"_Look I don't know what's going on between you two but Fi was insistent that we didn't try and get in touch. I think she was more worried about ruining your chances of getting back into your old job."_

"I'm going over there, _DON'T_ warn her," Michael told him forcefully while he was already opening the loft door to walk outside into the darkened night. "And Sam, when I see you, I want his name."

Closing the phone he shoved it inside his pocket as he raced down the metal steps towards the heavy metal gates, pulling them open before bringing the silent charger to life.

When he got to his mother's house it was in total darkness. His mind was racing with questions as he used his key to slip inside, being as quiet as he could. Closing the door behind him he allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness before moving silently towards his old bedroom, knowing that's where Fiona would be.

When he saw her his heart jolted inside his chest. He could see her rounded stomach protruding from beneath the loose sheet she had draped over her while she slept. He couldn't believe how much her body had changed in just two weeks. Two weeks, he mused as he slipped off his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt, leaving them to fall into a pile on the floor. Two weeks had felt more like a lifetime.

When he got to the bed, he took a few moments to watch her while she slept. Her beautiful features were even more serene now that they were highlighted by the moonlight streaming in through the window.

Pulling off his shoes and socks, he stood up to remove his pants before climbing quietly into the bed, trying not to wake her when he shuffled closer towards her warm body. His heart shuddered inside his chest when he turned onto his side to drink in her features. He'd missed her so much.

Moving closer he reached out a hand to slide it over her swollen stomach and instantly felt the small movements of his baby daughter beneath his palm. He smiled to himself as he whispered a quiet _hi_ to the baby. He couldn't help the sudden rush of emotion flooding his eyes when he was rewarded with a sharp kick into his palm.

Fiona's eyes snapped open and he only just caught her fist with his hand before it landed on his jaw. Fiona blinked the sleep from her eyes as she tried to focus on his face.

"Fi," he spoke softly, her name escaping from his lips when he took in her wide startled eyes.

With sudden force she launched herself into his arm, holding onto him so tight that they fell backwards onto the pillows. Her lips were on his before he could tell her how much he'd missed her. He followed her blindly, allowing her to take the lead when her kisses left him breathless.

"Michael," she whispered his name as her lips left his to travel over his face placing tiny kisses over his skin. "Michael…"

Michael's hands roamed over her shoulders, flexing his fingers over her soft skin until he moved them upwards to frame her face in his hands. Their eyes met and held as his gaze drifted over her body in awe. When she leant in to him, he could see the intensity in her eyes and he found himself gulping back a breath before she captured his lips once more. Shifting closer to him, Fiona wrapped her arms up around his shoulders to encompass his neck in her possessive embrace.

Opening his mouth beneath hers, he plunged his tongue into her depths, causing her to groan into his mouth as she returned his kiss with equal passion.

Fiona's hands began to wander down his chest, her fingers scraping over his skin as he slowly pulled his lips from hers and covered her hands with his own to still her movements.

"Fi," he whispered against her when his lips sought her neck to kiss the beckoning skin. Fiona tilted her head to grant him access, and allowed herself to be overtaken by the feelings she could feel raging throughout her body.

Finding her lips in the darkness, Michael crushed his mouth to hers, causing them to sink further down into the bed where every other thought disintegrated into the swirling passion that surrounded them.

Later, they lay together in a tangled heap. Michael held her close to him and ran the tips of his fingers over her shoulders and closed his eyes in complete contentment. He couldn't believe how much he had missed her, or how being away had felt like months instead of weeks.

"I missed you," she whispered against him as she placed a soft kiss onto his chest and tugged him closer.

"Me too," he smiled before he shifted slightly so he could look down at her. "What happened while I was away?"

Fiona tore her gaze from his and closed her eyes. With a heavy sigh she shook her head against him. "You spoke to Sam?"

"Yeah, I spoke to Sam," he told her. "Why wouldn't you let him get a message to me?"

"I didn't even think we _could_ get a message to you," she sighed as she took hold of his hand to lay it over her stomach. "I'm fine and she's fine."

His gaze slipped to her stomach, still marvelling over how big she had got since he'd last touched her. That awe was short lived however when he caught sight of the dark bruise that was beginning to fade just below her ribcage.

"Fi," he gasped as he moved his hand over the bruise, covering it with his fingers.

"It's okay," she told him with a reassuring smile, capturing his hand in hers to bring it to his lips. "We're both okay."

"I'm not sure I'm okay," he told her with an exasperated sigh. "It could have been a lot worse. He could have seriously hurt you. He could have hurt her…"

"Stop it," she told him in a hushed whisper when his voice rose a notch. "You sound just like your mother. Don't you think being confined to this house is punishment enough?"

Drawing his hand back, Michael saw her eyes cloud over and everything he was planning to say to her suddenly disappeared.

"Has it been that bad?" he asked sympathetically as he pulled her back into his chest and rubbed his fingers over her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"Please tell me you're staying," she sighed against his skin. "I love her, but she's driving me nuts. She's even hidden my C-4 just in case I try and blast my way out of here!"

Michael couldn't help it, his chest rumbled with laughter when she looked up at him with disdain.

"It's not funny Michael," she huffed. "I've had to eat overcooked meatloaf for the past three days!"

Michael pulled her close to his chest and placed soft kisses onto her forehead and chuckled softly as he spoke. "I'm sorry…I know she can be a little domineering…"

"A little?" she squawked when she pushed herself up onto her elbow to poke him in the chest with her finger. "You are _no_t funny."

"Sorry…sorry…" he chuckled as he pulled her back down to him. "I promise I'll spring you free in the morning."

"You'd better," she told him as she yawned tiredly. "And tomorrow you can come and see the house."

"Huh?" he asked in confusion, suddenly wide awake. "House? What house?"

When she didn't answer he looked down to see her eyes closed tight and her lips holding just a hint of a smile. She snuggled against him and he couldn't help but let the feeling of complete bliss overtake his senses. Closing his eyes, he reached for her hand on his chest and threaded his fingers through hers. His last thought before he drifted off to sleep was how happy she made him feel.

000

Sunlight was streaming through the windows when Madeline tapped lightly on the bedroom door. Opening it just enough to look around the door she stopped in her tracks when she saw the entwined couple asleep in the bed.

At first she didn't know whether to be shocked that her son had managed to creep into the house at night without waking anyone or whether she was more shocked that Fiona hadn't killed him.

She smiled with complete joy when she saw how Michael's arm was wrapped possessively around Fiona's waist and their fingers were linked together. She couldn't have been more delighted. Stepping backwards she pulled the door closed quietly behind her and hummed happily to herself as she walked towards the kitchen.

She was cooking eggs when Michael came in to the kitchen later that morning. He winced when he saw the lit cigarette dangling from her lips when she flipped the overcooked eggs onto the plate and silently prayed that they weren't meant for Fiona.

"Hi mom," he spoke from behind her and couldn't help smiling when she threw the frying pan onto the stove when she jolted with surprise.

"Michael," she beamed as she came towards him, moving the cigarette to her fingers as she put her arms around his bare torso and pulled him into a tight embrace. "Welcome home baby."

He answered her with a wide smile as he pulled away to hold her at arms length. She surprised him by reaching up to pat her cheek with the palm of her hand affectionately.

"Is Fiona still asleep?"

Michael's face flushed slightly in embarrassment and he suddenly felt totally ridiculous. He was a grown man, not a teenager who'd been caught sleeping under his mother's roof with a woman in his bed.

"Oh Michael," Madeline mock scolded when she moved away from him. "Fiona's pregnant and I think I know by now how she got that way!"

"Uh…Yeah…" he stumbled over his words and was about to vacate the kitchen when Fiona came walking into the room wearing his discarded shirt. She handed him one of his polo shirts that he'd left in the dresser on their last stay here, and smiled up at him before moving away again.

"Morning sweetheart," Madeline beamed a large smile in her direction and opened the refrigerator to take out some freshly squeezed orange juice and handed it to her.

Fiona smirked at Michael's open mouthed expression when she'd moved towards his mother and hugged her with one arm before taking the offered drink.

She smiled gratefully and planted a kiss onto Madeline's cheek before she turned to walk towards Michael, leaning in to kiss his lips.

"Morning," she whispered softly as she met his gaze with a searing one of her own. "I'll go and get dressed."

His eyes followed her when she turned away from him to walk back towards his old bedroom. He was so engrossed in her retreating form that he didn't hear his mother come to stand beside him, holding a cup of coffee out to him.

"Michael," she told him forcefully, snapping him out of his reverie. "She's really okay. Don't worry so much."

Michael took the cup from her hands and placed it onto the kitchen table before slipping the shirt Fiona had given him over his head. When he tugged the shirt in place he sat down at the table and took a deep breath. He rubbed his hands over his face before he fixed her with his steady gaze.

"What happened ma?" he asked, his gaze dark. "Sam said some guy hurt her…I wanna know everything, don't leave anything out."

"There's not much to tell honey," she sighed when she came to sit down opposite him. "She was helping Sam with this teenage kid who was robbing every house in his neighbourhood. He'd sprung the traps Fi had wired up to his step mothers house and was causing a ruckus. Sam called her and told her that he'd got the boy tied up while his mother decided what she wanted to do…I was in the house when it happened. I came rushing out when I heard Sam yelling her name and found her clinging on to his hand."

Michael's jaw twitched when he lowered his gaze and Madeline could already see the deep seated anger rolling off of him in waves.

"Honey, she hasn't been out on a job since," Madeline told him as she reached out to clasp his hand. "She was terrified of losing that baby."

Michael stood up abruptly and pushed the chair backwards. He sighed when his mother's hand slipped from his, offering her a tight smile. "Thanks for watching out for her ma."

"I love that girl, Michael," she told him honestly. "Even if you two weren't together I would still love her."

"I know ma," he told her, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. "I'm not leaving her alone anymore. Not after this."

"I'm fine Michael," Fiona's voice came from the doorway as she made her way back into the kitchen.

"Well I'm not," he told her, striding up to her to grasp her by the shoulders. "I'm not going anywhere until after she's born, and then when the time comes we'll all be going together."

Fiona's voice died on her lips when the meaning of his words seeped into her. Her eyes lit up with understanding and she automatically melted into him, pressing herself as close to him as possible.

The baby between them moved, pushing a kick into her father's abdomen in protest. Fiona giggled lightly when he moved back to place his hand over her stomach, swirling his fingers in circular motions.

"She's not even here yet and already she takes after you," he told her with a wide smile. He couldn't seem to stop doing that lately, even when he was away. Max had warned him to get the dopey smile from his face every time his mind drifted to her.

The back door flew open and Sam came through carrying parts of a new wooden cot covered in plastic wrappings hooked in his arms. He huffed and cast Michael a frustrated groan when he dumped the wooden bars onto the floor, propping them up against the wall.

"You know Mikey, there's more of it in the car."

Taking the hint, Michael left Fiona's side and followed his friend out of the door.

000

Later that afternoon Fiona walked into the loft and took a deep breath. She turned to Michael when he walked in behind her and reached for his hand, pulling him further inside.

"I never thought I would miss this place as much as I have," she told him with a smile. "It's so good to be home."

Michael couldn't seem to find his voice. Her smile was infectious and she had a beautiful glow about her. Pulling on her hand, he reeled her in towards him and wrapped his arms around her as he pressed his forehead to hers.

"I missed you too," he told her softly, his gaze meeting hers as he spoke. "I never got the chance to tell you."

Fiona's smile melted him from the inside out and he was still amazed that even after all these years she still had the power to leave him breathless.

Her cell phone sprang to life in her bag and she swiftly moved away from him to retrieve it. Michael shook his head and made his way over towards the refrigerator and opened the door to take out one of the bottles of beer still inside.

"We can come by this afternoon," Fiona's voice echoed around the loft and he closed the refrigerator door to look in her direction. "No, that's fine. Thank you, we'll see you after lunch."

"Don't tell me that was a job," he groaned when she made her way towards him.

"No, that was Lucy our realtor," she told him with a sly smile. "I went to see the perfect house for us a few weeks ago and she managed to get it for a good price, thanks to your mom."

"My mom?" he asked curiously when Fiona stood before him and linked her fingers through his, holding his hands.

"You should have seen her Michael," she told him proudly. "She was a real pro. She got twenty grand knocked off the price."

"That's great," he told her, flashing her a smile. "She has a way of being…persuasive!"

"She had Lucy eating out of her hand," Fiona laughed. "She was fantastic."

"And you like this house?" he asked her as he squeezed her fingers. "Is it what you want?"

"It's perfect for us," Fiona told him as she leaned up to place a soft kiss onto his lips before drawing away to smile up at him. "There's even a separate garage for the charger with enough space left over for everything else."

"Okay," he nodded, encouraged by her enthusiasm. "If it's what you want."

Fiona knew that he had something else on his mind by the way he was too agreeable. Since he got back he was much more affectionate and she couldn't move without having his eyes instantly on her.

Her face became serious when she caught his gaze. She untangled her fingers from his and reached up a hand to touch his face.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"What?" he asked quickly, shaking his head. "Nothing's wrong…why—"

"You've been watching me like I'm going to disappear," she sighed. "I'm fine Michael."

"I know," he told her as he pulled her hand away from his face to kiss her palm. "I'm sorry; I've had a lot on my mind…"

"Is everything okay?" she asked softly, instantly worried.

"It's fine," he told her with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Moving away from her he walked towards his discarded bag that he'd thrown onto the floor the night before and placed it on the bed. It was when he was zipping it open that he turned to her. "Why did Sam say you wouldn't let anyone contact me because of my job?"

"Michael," she sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "You want your old job back—"

"No I don't—" he interrupted but she stopped him.

"_Yes you do_," she told him. "You've wanted it for so long and…I don't want to ruin things for you more than I have already."

Michael's hands stilled and he dropped the crumpled shirts from his bag back to the bed. "You haven't ruined anything, Fi."

"Yes I have," she sighed. "Just by being with me you're jeopardising your chances. I know what it means to you."

"Fi, we've been over this already. I've made my choices and I chose to be with you," he told her as he made his way towards her, crouching down so he could see her eyes. "Whatever happens from here on, we decide it together, okay?"

Fiona could see the sincerity in his eyes and even though she knew he was giving up a huge part of his life for her, she couldn't seem to shake the sadness. She nodded silently, knowing that she would do everything she could to help him find his path again, regardless of how much their separation's hurt.

Michael's hand sought hers and squeezed her fingers to draw her gaze back up to his. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she told him with a reassuring smile when he pulled her up from the bed. She rubbed her stomach and winced slightly. "She's active today."

Stepping closer, Michael laid his hands over her swollen stomach calming the baby's movements almost instantly.

"See she's already a daddy's girl," she told him with a wide smile when his eyes seemed to light up with her words.

"Come on," he told her. "Let's get out of here and go eat somewhere nice before we go and see the new house."

000

Michael walked into what would be a very large living room and looked out of the windows. He could see why Fiona had wanted this place; it had everything they could possibly want.

Fiona came to stand behind him and rested her chin on his shoulder, slipping her hand into his.

"What do you think?"

"I think," he started, turning his head to catch her eyes as he spoke. "You found us the right house."

"I did, didn't I?" she laughed. "And when you're away it has plenty of room for your mom to come and stay."

"When I'm away?" he asked quickly, turning around to look down at her. He was just about to question her when Lucy came bounding into the room, gushing at him as she spoke.

"Oh it's so nice to finally meet you," she told him, blushing slightly when he looked at her. "Fiona said you were in the military."

"Uh…" Michael's voice died on his lips and he reached down for Fiona's hand, squeezing her fingers.

Fiona couldn't help but chuckle to herself. Michael Westen could take down dictators, battle his way through foreign countries and fight armed combat without blinking, but when a woman admired at him he was like a frightened little boy.

"Yes, he came back last night," Fiona supplied, squeezing his hand in hers. She couldn't decide whether she wanted to kill the woman before her or if she wanted to shout out with some feminine pride that this man was hers. Shaking her head she fended off the young realtor with a large smile. "We can come by your office sometime tomorrow if that's okay with you. We have some more," she looked up at Michael with a smouldering gaze, leaning into his side. "Pressing things to take care of."

"Oh yes, yes of course…"Lucy blushed. "I'll…I'll…see you both tomorrow."

"You will," Fiona told her as Michael grabbed hold of her hand and practically pulled her from the house.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for the reviews, PM's and favourite story adds. I really do appreciate all of your comments.**

**As always, huge thanks to the wonderful Purdy's Pal for reading through part of this**

9

Fiona watched Michael as he tinkered with his mother's toaster at her kitchen table and yawned behind her hand. They'd had a busy morning so far and had already been furniture shopping for the new house, while running errands for Madeline who was conspicuously absent from her own home.

Leaning back on the sofa she made herself comfortable while she watched him work. She knew he was bored, even though he wouldn't admit it. He'd deliberately avoided answering his 'work' phone around her, instead choosing to take it out on the balcony or outside on the stairs ever since she had teased him about his _'other'_ woman..

"_You know," she told him when he'd returned to their bed. "If I didn't know any better I'd swear you were having an affair!"_

"_What?" his eyes had grown wide with mortification and he'd promptly handed her his phone which she handed straight back._

"_Don't be ridiculous Michael," she'd sighed. "I'm only kidding."_

"_Don't even joke about things like that Fi, I would never…"_

"_I know," she'd soothed and reached out to take the phone from his hands and threw it onto the bedside table before pulling him down onto the bed._

With a heavy sigh she reached down to place her hands over her stomach, tracing their daughter's movements with her fingers. Being almost thirty weeks pregnant she had ballooned out of her clothes and was starting to feel like an overstuffed turkey that was no use to anyone.

Now when Michael and Sam went out on a job they took Jesse, all of them insistent that she should enjoy the last few weeks of rest before the baby arrived. But she didn't want to be protected anymore, she wanted to be useful.

"Hey, Fi," Michael's voice drifted through her thoughts and she looked over at him questioningly. "Can you come give me a hand for a second?"

"What do you need my help for?" she asked irritably as she pushed herself off of the sofa awkwardly. "You need me to put on a plug or something? Are you sure it's not too dangerous for me?"

Michael stopped what he was doing and eyed her cautiously. "You're cranky."

"I'm not cranky," she huffed as she gestured to her swollen stomach. "I just want _this_ to be over."

Placing the screwdriver back on the table he wiped his hands and met her half way to stop in front of her.

"Okay," he soothed, keeping his voice low. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she groused. "I'm just…I'm…"

Stepping closer he slipped his arms around her as far as he could and pulled her loosely against him.

"It's okay, Fi."

"No it isn't," she moaned miserably into his chest. "I can't even get my arms around you anymore."

Michael closed his eyes and smiled before pressing a soft kiss into her hair. She had been less emotional lately, instead her moods flared from being deliriously happy to downright irritated by the slightest thing. He wasn't sure which one he preferred, because either way she was like a ticking time bomb and she wasn't the only one looking forward to the end of this pregnancy.

"Only a few more weeks," he soothed as he rubbed her shoulders. "It'll pass before we know it."

"That's easy for you to say," she groaned into his chest. "You don't look like you've swallowed ten water melons!" Pulling back she held onto his hands and fixed him with a fierce gaze. "I can't even see my feet anymore…" her voice trailed off when she remembered the hideous flat footwear she now had to wear and sighed, "…but that's good I guess."

Michael knew he had to word his answer carefully. He knew the wrong words, no matter how supportive he thought they were could come back to blow up in his face. He'd fought all kinds of foes, had guns pointed at him, been blown up and shot at, but right now he would welcome any one of those distractions. All kinds of scenarios played out inside his head before he came up with the only word he could think of.

"Why?"

Fiona's small frame stilled and she stopped moving. Michael held his breath and swallowed hard. This was the part he always hated and he waited for the explosion that he was sure to come, but to his immense surprise it didn't.

Fiona looked up at him and caught the worry in his eyes. Her lips turned up into a wide smile and she stepped up closer to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you," she beamed as she released his hands to move towards the counter where he'd left the discarded toaster.

Michael let out the breath he'd been holding and was more confused than ever. What had just happened? Shaking his head he turned back towards her and studied her closely. He loved her more than he could ever put into words, but sometimes she confused the hell out of him.

"So, what did you need my help with?" she asked him when she poked around the toaster with her fingers. "Why doesn't your mom just buy a new one?"

"Why?" he sighed heavily as he came to stand beside her and put on his best mother impression. "_Because I've had that toaster since 1975, Michael!"_

Fiona chuckled softly and laid her hands over his, stilling his movements. "I think it's time to bury the toaster."

"Have you _met_ my mother?" he shook his head as he tried to hide his smile.

"I'll tell her," Fiona laughed as she leaned into his side. "She won't hurt a pregnant woman!"

"No, she'll just hurt me!"

"Oh poor baby," Fiona looked up at him sympathetically. "You know she—"

Michael stopped what he was doing when she gasped in a sharp breath and pressed her hand to her lower abdomen. The colour drained from his face when he met her gaze, instant panic soaring through him.

"Fi," he asked quickly, reaching out to rub his hands over her shoulders as he nervously looked for any signs of distress. "Do you need to sit down?"

Letting out a long breath she stood up straighter again and shook her head. "It's okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Michael I'm fine," she told him as she reached out to pat his hand on her arm. "Remember the doctor told us about fake labour pains on our last visit?"

Michael tried frantically to remember everything about their last doctor's visit, but before he could even try and pretend he knew what she was talking about, she shook her head and pulled away.

"That's _right,_ you _won't_ remember," she told him coolly. "_You_ had to take a phone call at the time because they couldn't _possibly_ wait another ten minutes until _after_ my examination had finished."

Michael visibly gulped and cursed inwardly at the inconvenient times that his contacts with the CIA chose to call. Sometimes he was sure they had the loft bugged just to cause him endless waves of trouble.

"Fi…it's not like they know about this…" he started, gesturing towards her swollen belly.

"Are you sure about that?" she huffed. "They keep calling you away when we have important appointments scheduled."

"Fi…"

"It doesn't matter," she sighed and dropped her eyes to the ancient toaster that was laying in pieces on the table. "The main thing is, the pains are normal. They're going to get stronger the closer I get to my due date."

"I'm going to be here, Fi," he told her softly, knowing that her main fear was going through this alone. "I won't let them keep me away."

"How can you be sure?" she asked miserably. "They've already ruined so much for us. They're dangling your old job in front of you and they know you'll do anything to get it back."

"That's not true, Fi," he told her solemnly when his fingers skimmed her shoulders. "This," he slid a hand down to her stomach. "You and her are the reason I'm doing all of this. I want her to have as normal a life as possible."

"And she will," Fiona sighed, leaning in to him. "You just have to stop treating me like I'm going to break, and just be honest with me. I know you want to work with the government again—"

"Shouldn't you be resting or something?" he asked helplessly, wishing for some kind of distraction. "You didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

Fiona's eyes shot to his, her previous annoyance completely forgotten. "I couldn't get comfortable. It doesn't matter which way I try to lay I have this weighing me down," gesturing to her engorged belly and shook her head in disgust. "…Whoever said pregnancy is a wonderful thing needs shooting!"

"It doesn't last forever, right…and when it's all over you'll agree with the 'wonderful' thing," he tried to soothe her until she gave him a murderous glance that told him he should quit talking right now. Stepping towards her he took her hand and grabbed his keys off of the side. "Let's get out of here."

"But your mom's—" she started, her hands gesturing to the metal casualty on the table.

"You said it yourself Fi, it's time to bury it. We'll face the consequences later," he told her as he pulled her out of the house and towards the charger. Opening the door he held onto her hand, guiding her inside before running around to the drivers side.

"Where are we going?" she asked cautiously when he backed out of his mother's drive way.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked her. "Name the place…anywhere…"

"Anywhere?" she laughed at his infectious grin and shook her head. "_Who_ are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?"

"I'm serious," he grinned, casting her a brief look before returning his eyes to the road.

"Okay, if you're serious, take me home," she smiled. "Turn off _all_ the phones, lock the door and we'll order take out. Just for once can it just be the two of us?"

Michael couldn't help the ecstatic grin he directed her way when she reached across the seat to lay her hand over his jean-clad thigh. He dropped his hand down to cover hers as he drove then back towards the loft, feeling complete and utter contentment floating through his body.

"Maybe tomorrow we should put the cot together," she suggested with a tired yawn. "Just to see what it looks like in the baby's room."

"If that's what you want Fi," he told her, nodding his head in agreement.

Panic suddenly shuddered inside his chest with the prospect of erecting the wooden cot. They had been moving the pieces of it from one part of the baby's room to the other while he and Sam decorated the walls with pink flowery stencils that Fiona thought looked like hand grenades.

"My mom thinks we should spend as much time together as we can before she's born," he told her, keeping his eyes fixed on the road ahead. When she didn't answer he chanced a brief glance in her direction. Her eyes were closed and her free hand was resting over her swollen stomach. In that one moment Michael thought he had never seen her looking more beautiful.

He knew he had changed over the last five years; being with her was changing him every day. He'd constantly tried to remember his life before he was burned. How his life had been one long dangerous adventure that left him strangely satisfied, but knowing what he had now, he realised that all of those feelings of satisfaction from his past were nothing compared to this. He enjoyed his life here with Fiona and despite what she thought, he didn't want any job to take him away for long periods of time.

When they got back to the loft, Michael jumped out of the charger to open the gates before coming back to guide the car through. Turning off the engine he took a few moments to gaze over at the sleeping woman beside him. There were so many feelings running through him every time he looked at her and he'd lost count how many times he had thanked whoever was listening for bringing her into his life.

Feeling the cars movement's cease, Fiona took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes. She blinked at the bright light filtering through the car windows and brought her hands up to her face to shield her from the sunlight.

"Hey," Michael's voice brought her eyes to his and she offered him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry," she yawned and laid her head further back into the leather seat. "I don't remember anything after we left your mom's."

"It's okay…You feel better?" he asked with a warm smile as he reached out his hand to thread his fingers through hers.

"I do," she nodded with a tired smile.

Her eyes drifted over towards the loft and the tatty white paintwork that was peeling off of the walls. She was going to miss this place, even though it was worn down and in such a decrepit state, this was home to both of them.

"Are you ready to go up?" he asked her, his voice breaking through her thoughts.

Fiona tore her eyes away from the loft and nodded her head before opening the charger door to climb out. He was around to her side in seconds, helping her get out of the car. It was times like these when she felt so useless. She had gone from a woman with boundless energy who could take any man on and win, to this. She sighed as she allowed him to help her up before he guided her towards the stairs.

"I can make it up the stairs on my own, Michael," she told him tetchily when she started to climb the stairs and pulled her keys out of her bag.

Michael let it go. He knew she was feeling like a loose wheel that wasn't any use to anyone, something he'd tried continuously to convince her she wasn't. He'd been on the receiving end of these mood swings enough to know that she would switch to the _softer_ side before he could make it up the stairs.

Locking the gates he followed her up the stairs and waited for her to comment further but instead she opened the door and turned to face him before they went inside.

"I'm really going to miss this place."

Michael nodded in agreement and stepped up behind her to trace his fingers over her bare arms. "Yeah, we've been through a lot here."

Fiona leaned back against his chest and inclined her head so that she could look up at him. "Are you ready to leave here?"

"It's time to leave," he told her quietly. "And we're not really saying goodbye to this place."

"I know," she smiled again and moved off of him to take his hand in hers, manoeuvring them into the loft. Once they were inside she released his hand and turned to him when he closed the door.

"It's kinda sad though, leaving such a big part of us behind."

Michael regarded her thoughtfully before he leaned forward to place both of his hands on her shoulders.

"What's brought all this on? I thought you wanted to leave here."

"I did…I do…" leaning forward she held her forehead against his and sighed heavily before pulling away again. "I don't know what I'm saying…I've just been feeling so…strange I guess…everything is changing."

"You always told me that change was a good thing," he told her as he moved a little closer to her to lay his hands over her stomach, spreading his fingers. "And this is a good thing."

The baby moved beneath his hands and kicked against his palm. It didn't matter how many times Michael had felt their daughter's small movements, it never ceased to amaze him how he could possibly love someone so much when he hadn't even met them yet.

"She's a lucky girl," Fiona covered his hands with her own and squeezed his fingers before breaking into a wide smile. "But we're both hungry and you promised to feed us!"

"Okay, okay," he laughed as he removed his hands and moved towards the kitchen where they kept all of the take out menu's they hardly ever used. Taking them out of the cupboard he spread them over the counter and looked at them thoughtfully.

Fiona watched him as he studied the coloured leaflets. He was in such deep concentration that she couldn't stop the soft chuckle that escaped her lips. "Michael, you're looking for food, not planning some deep cover operation."

"Hmm?" he mumbled when he looked up at her questioningly. "I was trying to decide."

"This baby will be a year old before you decide what to eat," stepping towards him she looked down at the small arrangement of menus and instantly pushed two aside. "Cuban gives me heartburn and pizza…urgh…"

"Okay," he sighed. "You pick one."

"You know what I could really eat right now?" she asked him quickly, her eyes bright when she turned to him. "My mother's Irish stew…do you remember that first night in Ireland when you stayed over and she kept feeding you?"

Michael watched her face light up with the mention of home and part of him ached for something he couldn't give her. He remembered that night too well, and he remembered how Fiona's mother told him he was far too scrawny and needed meat on his bones.

"We had to fake a job just to make her stop filling my bowl," he grinned. "Yeah, I remember…"

Reaching out her hand she curled her fingers around his arm and leaned into his side. "And that night you kept looking at my bedroom door…" laughter escaped from her lips when she nudged him playfully. "You were convinced she was going to barge in on us…"

"She was terrifying," he retorted, chuckling with the memory.

"She's five foot two," she laughed.

"She may have been small but I saw her take Patrick out with a frying pan," he told her with a grimacing smile as he remembered how Fiona's older brother had buckled before the tiny woman. "She made my mother look like an amateur!"

"She's fierce," Fiona nodded, grinning wildly. "Do you remember the morning she found you sneaking out of my room…Your face...I've seen you put all kinds of acts for your covers, but I've never seen you truly terrified before, not since that day anyway!"

"I thought she was going to shoot me," he shuddered when the memory hit him full force, bringing with it a bittersweet happiness. Turning towards her he moved his fingers up to her face and pushed her hair away from her eyes. "I always wondered why she didn't."

Fiona leaned her face into his hand and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she sighed happily as she met his gaze.

"She loved you."

"She loathed me!"

"That was after you left in the middle of the night," she corrected him. "She was angry because you hurt me… she told me later that she thought we would always stay together…"

"Well, we are still together," he grinned.

"Yeah, _now_…but we weren't for a long time." Fiona's smile slipped from her face as she regarded him thoughtfully. "Why _did_ you keep me as your emergency contact after all the awful things we did to each other?"

"Fi—"

"I didn't believe your explanation _then_ Michael, what makes you think I'd believe it now?" Standing back from his she fixed him with her steady gaze and waited until he lifted his eyes to meet hers.

Shrugging his shoulders he dropped his eyes back down to the menus feigning ignorance before he sighed softly and averted his eyes when he spoke.

"I didn't want to let you go…not back then," his soft admission caused her to gasp and he instantly lifted his gaze to meet hers. "You were the closest I'd ever been to a real relationship Fi, I..."

Fiona's eyes softened and she stepped towards him to place a soft kiss onto his lips. When she stepped away from him she couldn't stop the warm blush that crept up over her cheeks. She had loved this man for most of her life regardless whether he'd wanted her to or not. Now he'd admitted to her that he'd always felt the same way, everything they'd put each other through suddenly became worth it.

"I'm glad you kept me in your wallet," she told him with a warm smile, then patted his cheek with her hand before stepping away. "I'll have the Chinese, nothing too spicy…and can you pick up some rocky road…"

Michael watched her as she turned away from him to head off towards the bathroom. They had been apart for so many years, but what he hadn't told her was that there had never been anyone else in all that time. No one had ever been able to compare to her.

"Okay," he called out when she'd disappeared into the bathroom. He could just hear Sam's voice in his head telling him that he was under the thumb, and so whipped but he shook it away. "Did you want anything else while I'm out?"

"Yeah, you need more Yogurt," she stuck her head around the bathroom door. "Sam ate your last blueberry."

Michael shook his head when she disappeared back into the bathroom. Life was pretty good right now he decided as he left the loft, unable to wipe the smile from his face.

tbc


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you for all of the messages, reviews and favourite story adds. It's very much appreciated.**

**Apologies for the long delay in posting this chapter. It's a little longer than normal, so I hope that makes up for the wait.**

**As always, thank you to my two wonderful friends Purdy's Pal and Daisyday **

Chapter 10

"Hey Mikey," Sam asked curiously when he picked up a long metal strip and held it up while his eyes scanned the instruction manual. "Where is this supposed to go?"

Stepping away from the almost erected wooden crib, Michael eyed his friend and groaned. The pair of them had spent the last two hours trying to piece the crib together but all they'd managed to do was take it all apart again, twice.

"What is wrong with this thing?" Michael sighed in frustration as he shook the crib to test how sturdy it was before eyeing the mysterious metal strip that his friend was holding. "Fi didn't mention that you need some sort of degree in baby code to put this thing together."

"Ah, well that's parenthood brother," Sam chuckled to himself as he stood up to come and stand beside the younger man.

Michael scowled at his friend when he picked up his half drunk bottle and lifted it to his lips.

"You're enjoying this far too much, Sam," he sighed and turned his attention back towards the wooden crib. Lifting his hands, he ran his fingers over the frame and found his mind wandering off into the not too distant future when his daughter would be lying in this very crib and a sudden wave of emotion washed over him.

Taking his screwdriver out again he started to undo the screws while keeping his eyes fixed onto the instructions beside it.

"Now hold on Mikey," Sam put his bottle back down and placed his hand on the frame to stop him. "What are you doing? We've already put this thing together a million times…it's fine."

Michael shot him a look that told him there would be no arguments as he lifted the front frame away from the base and stood it up next to the wall.

"I am not letting _my daughter_ sleep anywhere that isn't safe," taking the metal strip from Sam's hand he waved it at him with frustration, "and until I get this right and find where this damn piece of metal goes, then it's not safe."

Sam sighed and reached down to pick up the instructions again, turning them upside down and the right way up.

"The kid'll be having its first birthday before we get this thing put up," he grumbled as he scanned the instructions more closely. "And this manual has been written by a chimp!"

"How are you boys getting on?" Madeline breezed into the room with two bottle of beer in her hands and a cigarette hanging out of her mouth.

"Maaa," Michael shook his head and motioned towards her mouth. "Not in the baby's room!"

"Oh stop it," she shushed him as she handed Sam both bottles. "It's not like she's even here yet."

"No, but she'll be sleeping in here if we ever get this damn thing up," he growled in frustration and slammed the screwdriver onto the floor and regarded the wooden bars thoughtfully. He was silent for a few minutes, thinking everything over in his mind before it all became clear. Bending down to retrieve the screwdriver he flashed Sam a grin and started putting all the pieces back together again.

Sam reluctantly handed the bottles back to Madeline and turned to help Michael until they both stood back to admire their handiwork.

Retrieving both bottles of beer from Madeline's hands, Sam handed one to his friend and reached out to clink the glass together.

"Here's to a job well done, Mikey," he grinned before placing the bottle to his lips and taking a long deserved swig.

Michael nodded absently but his eyes were scanning over the now fully erected crib with a new kind of fear. To say he was terrified was an understatement. He'd never had anything to do with babies; he'd never even held one. Fiona was the same, even though she seemed to be taking things in her stride, he knew she was just as scared as he was.

"Michael," Fiona's soft voice found its way into his thoughts and he turned to her when she came to stand by his side. She reached out a hand and ran her fingers over the wooden rail with a delicate stroke as she sighed wistfully.

"It's lovely," Madeline beamed when she came to peer into the empty crib. "All you need now is to get some bedding and crib protectors for the bars…"

Michael and Fiona looked at each other before earning a groan from the older woman who was currently wafting her cigarette smoke out of the room with her hand.

"Protectors?" she asked in exasperation as she eyed the couple with annoyance. "They go around the inside of the crib to protect the baby's head…honestly, how are you going to cope with a baby between the two of you?"

"Relax ma," Michael sighed and glanced at Fiona who was still staring down into the empty crib. "We know what cot protectors are. We're not—"

"We can do this," Fiona's voice broke through his words and she held onto the side of the crib with a death grip. She turned eyes onto Madeline who watched her with a worried gaze. "We can."

"I know you can honey," Madeline told her with a wide smile as she reached out to run her arm. "I just like seeing the scared look on Michael's face!"

Fiona's eyes lit up with amusement and she turned to cast her gaze onto the bewildered man beside her who was still clutching the screwdriver in his hands.

Michael's mouth opened to protest but he knew his mother was right. He _was_ terrified. He was still uncertain of his future and his job. He didn't know which path to choose, but the one thing in his life that had been his constant for the last five years was standing beside him, her eyes casting the doubts away.

When Fiona gasped in a breath and leaned against the bars of the crib for support, Michael reached out and laid his hand over the nape of her neck, spreading his fingers to massage some of the tension away. Throwing the screwdriver onto the floor, he ignored his mother's protests and Sam's worried chatter to lean in close to her side.

"Breathe through it," he told her gently when she leaned into his chest and nodded slowly. He ran his hands over her lower back and let the heat of his fingers soothe away the pain.

Madeline watched on with a certain amount of motherly pride. For all of his tough exterior, her son had proved to her and all of those around him that when it came to his family there wasn't anything he wouldn't do. Watching him now with his gentle voice and tender caresses, she couldn't help but feel a little twinge of envy. She had never had the kind of relationship with Frank where she felt absolutely loved and adored. His idea of gentleness was a slap across the face instead of a punch. Taking a breath she pushed those feelings away. The love she never received from her husband wasn't anything because her son's gave her more than enough.

Fiona unclenched her hands from the crib and turned into him, sliding her palms up his chest to clutch a handful of his shirt in her fingers. Her breath caught in her throat when the ache in her lower back slowly died away and she felt the tightness in her abdomen ease again. The breath she'd been holding escaped from her lips and she unclenched her fingers from his shirt. When his lips touched her hair she suddenly felt herself relax in his arms.

"They're getting stronger," he told her worriedly as he enclosed his arms around her, pulling her as close as he could. Their daughter kicked out her protest and he moved backwards, dropping his eyes down to the obstacle between them. Sliding one of his hands from Fiona's shoulder, he moved to spread his fingers over her stomach and was rewarded by a strong jab to his palm.

"I wish this was all over with already," Fiona groaned as she laid a hand over his on her stomach. "I swear the next person who tells me I'm glowing, I'm going to stick a grenade so far up their a—"

"Okaaaay," Sam's voice echoed throughout the room as he edged towards the door, motioning for Madeline to follow him. "I'm gonna grab another beer, Mike…good luck buddy," he grinned and waved before rushing out of the door.

"I remember how uncomfortable pregnancy is Fi, especially the last few weeks. I know you don't want to hear it, but it doesn't last forever," Madeline told her before she moved towards the door. "I've made lunch, it's in the kitchen when you're both ready."

"Madeline," Fiona called quickly before she left, easing herself out of Michael's embrace. "Thank you, we'll be out in a minute."

When they were alone again, she turned to Michael and offered him a hopeful smile. "Are you okay?"

He let out a breath and leant against the side of the crib. "Aren't I supposed to be asking you that?"

"I'm always okay," she told him with a smile as she held out her hand to press her palm over his chest. "I'm more worried about your mom in our new kitchen!"

Her words seemed to spark a thread of worry in his eyes and he took hold of her hand and lifted her fingers to his lips, placing a kiss onto her knuckles before ushering her out of the door.

000

When they were back at the loft, Michael took some of the files he'd kept from his burn notice and spread them over the workbench while Fiona was in the shower. Over the last few months she had become less aggravated by his obsession of the tattered pieces of paper that still kept his attention, even after all this time. As time wore on and the words in the files left him more confused than before, he had shoved them into the filing cabinet, only bringing them out from time to time.

His work cell phone sprang in to life on the bench beside him and he looked down at it for a few seconds before picking it up. His heart was in his throat when he put it to his ear and listened to the voice at the other end.

"Yeah, I'm here…"

When Fiona came out of the shower towel drying her hair, she knew instantly that the atmosphere in the loft had shifted. Michael was standing on the opposite side of the breakfast bar, his hands on either side of the cell phone with a solemn look in his eyes.

Her eyes sparked with irritation but she quickly swallowed it down when she saw the utter devastation in his eyes.

"You have to leave again?" she told him, keeping her voice even as she spoke. The look in his eyes answered for her and everything she was going to say suddenly died on her lips. Moving closer she went to stand beside him and placed the wet towel onto the counter beside her. "Michael?"

"They want me in DC by tomorrow night," he closed his eyes and sighed, waiting for the explosion, but to his surprise it never came. The woman beside him seemed to take this new information with a quiet calm that caused him to be relieved and terrified at the same time.

"When do you…" Fiona's voice faltered slightly but she pulled herself up to him and laid a hand over his. "How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know," he sighed, turning him hand so they were palm to palm. Threading his fingers through hers he leaned closer to her and rested his chin on her head. "A few days, maybe a week…I have to decide whether I'm in or out…Fi…"

"It's okay, Michael," she told him calmly. "I know this is what you've wanted for a long time. You don't have to explain."

Pulling back slightly Michael looked down into her sorrow filled eyes. He swallowed the burning in his throat when her words forced his brain into meltdown. She didn't think…? How could she ever believe that he'd leave her? Even if she wasn't pregnant, they had come so far in their relationship.

"No," he told her desperately, imploring her to understand. "It's not like that at all. It's not a decision about being a spy and leaving…"

Fiona's eyes sparked with fire when she caught his gaze. She was so confused and her thoughts were swirling inside her mind. "So…you…I'm sorry, you've lost me."

"I'll be in DC to talk about my options and where I want to go from here."

"Isn't that the same thing?" she asked him softly as she unclasped their hands and moved over towards the bed, sitting down on the edge tiredly.

"No, because this time I know where I want my life to be," he told her, coming to sit down beside her and ran his fingers over her bare shoulder. "I only have a few hours before they're sending the car."

Michael watched her when she lifted her eyes to his. She had thundered into his life on more than one occasion. She had taken control of his heart and overpowered his fears casting them aside. Reaching out a hand, he threaded his fingers through hers to bring their joined hands to his lips and placed a kiss on her skin.

"I really do...you know... Fi," he told her sincerely, his voice humming out his endless adoration.

"I do too," she whispered knowing his code word for telling her he loved her. Squeezing his fingers gently, she brought their hands down to her knee. "We should get your bags packed.

"Yeah," he nodded, dragging his eyes away to look down at their joined hands on her knee, before turning back to face her again. "We can do that in the morning."

Leaning into his side, she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer. "You know what I think?" she mumbled, planting tiny kisses onto his chest. "I think they purposely call you just to piss me off…"

"You think so?" he laughed, the slow rumble building up inside his chest, bringing an onslaught of love along with it. Leaning down he pressed his lips into her hair, leaving tiny passionate kisses that soaked through to her skin. "We still have a few hours," he smiled, "What do you want to do?"

Fiona's head snapped up and she met his eyes with a mischievous smile. "Well, I know something that I would really like to do."

His lips turned up into a knowing smile. Inching closer, he reached down to pull her arms from around his waist so he could lift her hands to his lips.

"I do too."

Fiona's eyes closed in surrender the second his lips touched her fingers. His warmth spread across her skin like sweet kisses of fire, igniting her instead of soothing her flame. She felt his warm breath travel up her arm, his kisses trailing a path of molten lava in their wake until he found her neck.

"Michael, are you trying to seduce me?" she moaned softly as she moved her head to the side so that his lips could graze her skin.

Lifting his head he looked at her questioningly until he saw the fire burning in her eyes, igniting his own spark into a burning flame, which he tried desperately to control.

"Michael," she whimpered, biting her bottom lip to control the shaking desire coursing through her body, "I.." her words were lost as he silenced her, his lips capturing hers in a kiss so erotically powerful her whole body came alive in his arms.

His hands were everywhere, raking over her body with possessive desire as he pushed her backwards onto the bed, pressing her into the mattress as he leaned into her body, devouring her lips with his own.

Fiona was on fire, her whole body tingling with heat as he once again leaned into her body, pressing her intimately into his own.

His lips broke away from hers suddenly as he opened his eyes, seeking hers desperately. They stared at each other breathlessly, trying to gain some control of their wandering hands, but neither could seem to bare to pull away.

"I want you," she whispered as she gazed up at him. Her eyes focused on his lips, those beautiful lips that could tear her away from reality in a matter of seconds just by their touch. Lips that had become increasingly intoxicating over the years, addicting her to his kisses like a drug.

"You have me," he told her, his voice becoming strained. His words tangled in his throat as she once again turned his whole reasoning upside down. He couldn't deny her anything, and that scared him. This woman was able to scatter his mind into sexual overdrive just by her touch alone, controlling his every action, making his logical thoughts melt into nothing but her.

His last thoughts were of her when they melted into one another, once again pulling earth other over the edge to float back down again. They drifted off into blissful sleep, entwined together as darkness filled the loft.

000

Michael was still dozing when he felt the bed shift beside him. He waited for the mattress to dip when she got out for a bathroom trip, but it didn't. Instead he felt her lean closer when her hands came up to caress his face. He could almost see the knowing smile start to form on his lips just like it always did when she knew he wasn't asleep.

He kept his eyes closed, his heart thudding so loudly it pounded in his ears. He could feel her warm breath on his face, eliciting a wondrous feeling throughout his body. The whole world could end and he couldn't be drawn away from her touch.

Fiona leaned in closer to him, pressing a soft kiss onto one closed eye and then moved to the other, lingering over his skin for what seemed like an eternity, before trailing her lips down his cheek to find his mouth. Her lips touched his, kissing him so soft and so gentle he almost felt his heart jump from his chest.

She smiled when she felt his body shaking beneath hers and started to slowly pull away to sit back on the bed beside him.

"Hey," she whispered, bringing him from his blissful thoughts.

His eyes opened slowly, savouring her soft features. The love that overflowed in his heart for her always caught him by surprise His eyes wandered to hers, dark and warm and so full of love he almost had to catch his breath. She was close enough to touch and it took all of his self-control not to reach out and trace his fingers down her thigh.

"Good morning," she whispered softly, her breath fanning his face as she smiled down at him.

Her voice was like sunshine, warming every part of his body as the growing need to kiss her became almost unbearable.

"Fiona…" his voice sounded so sultry when he spoke, and when she caught his gaze she could see the lust in his dangerous eyes.

"Uh, Michael?" she gasped quickly, her fuzzy brain screaming for her to move as he came towards her, only to be silenced in quiet submission as he descended on her lips, taking her breath from her as he kissed her.

Fiona's hands left her sides to glide up his chest, pulling him to her possessively as they kissed. In the far reaches of her mind she barely acknowledged that this wasn't helping her organize his travel bags, but his kisses were addictive and she just couldn't seem to pull away from him. Her treacherous body only sank into him further, deepening their kiss to plunge her tongue into his mouth, making him groan in response.

Michael was lost in her, he knew he had to stop this and get ready for his meeting, but no matter how much his brain tried to co-operate, his body was unwilling. He pulled her further into him, not caring whether his unofficial bosses arrived right at this moment.

Hands were everywhere, roaming each other's bodies, frantically searching for pent up release that would be so cruelly denied to them while he was away. Fiona was drowning in him, willingly following his lips as she took him into her mouth, tangling with his tongue, causing his whole body to tremble.

As their kiss became more demanding, somewhere in the back of her mind the thoughts broke through the passionate fog that occupied her body, to pull her away from his lips soundly.

He whimpered with her loss before opening his eyes to gaze into her flushed face.

"We have to get up," she whispered, pulling backwards to move off of the bed but still close enough to feel him.

"I know," his eyes closed again, trying to regain some kind of control over the raging desire coursing its way throughout his body. Reaching for her again he pulled her back towards him and eased her back down onto the bed beside him. "Later."

Fiona grinned up at him and opened her mouth to protest but he put a finger to her lips, gently stopping her speech as he moved closer. He trailed a line of kisses over her face, desperately trying to show her with everything he possessed that he would miss her.

000

Five weeks later and Michael still hadn't returned. The brief message that he'd managed to get to her was that he was safe and on a mission out somewhere in Cuba, and that he couldn't give her any other information.

Fiona had practically moved everything into the new house now, as well as her entire snow globe collection. She'd spent her first night here two days ago and found it increasingly difficult to sleep. Everything was getting harder to do the further her pregnancy progressed.

At thirty-six weeks pregnant, her ankles were swollen and her stomach had grown increasingly larger in size. Sam had even joked one afternoon that if she grew any bigger the baby would explode from her stomach like a scene from alien, but he'd quickly skulked back into the kitchen and left Madeline to deal with the acutely irate Irish woman who was ready to take his head off of his shoulders with her bare hands.

"Honey, I think it's time we got you out of this house," Madeline had told her when she'd handed her a glass of iced tea. "We still need to find a stroller for the baby."

"Madeline," Fiona sighed. "I really don't think…"

"Oh nice try honey, I've been through this before," Madeline told her as she lit another cigarette and eyed the cell phone Fiona held in her hand. "You need to get out of this house and get away from that phone. Michael will be home before the baby arrives."

"_Yeah,_" Fiona huffed miserably. "Of course he will!"

"He'll be here Fi," Madeline told her gently as she reached across to pat the younger woman's shoulder. "But you moping around this house isn't good for either of you."

"I'll get my bag," she sighed heavily and shot Sam another glare as she passed him. "If Michael—"

"I'll call you right away," he promised through a mouthful of yogurt and waved the spoon in the air when Madeline held the door open for her. "Try not to scare the natives out there!"

"Why _you_—" Fiona growled and spun around to head towards him but Madeline caught her arm and marched her out of the door towards her car.

So here they were now, walking through the mall with deliberate slowness. Madeline hooked her arm through Fiona's and tried to distract her from the murderous suggestions she'd spoken of since they'd arrived at the mall. When they walked into the fifth baby boutique in just over an hour, Madeline held on tightly to Fiona's side when a young shop assistant looked up at them when they entered the shop.

"Can I offer you any assistance?" They both turned to the tiny blonde haired woman who was sporting a big toothy grin and coming their way. Fiona was practically grinding her teeth. She was hot and irritable. Her feet hurt, she needed to pee and the baby was bouncing up and down on her bladder. Before she could turn and tell the assistant where she could stick her sickly smile, Madeleine was already pulling her towards the young woman.

"Yes, we're looking for strollers," Madeline told her as she read the woman's name badge. "Nancy."

"Oh my, you look about ready to pop," Nancy beamed a smile at Fiona who was looking like thunder. If she noticed Fiona's aggravation then Nancy didn't respond to it.

"She does doesn't she?" Madeline beamed and pulled Fiona closer to her. She shot the younger woman a glare that told her to follow her lead. "Why don't you sit down honey and rest your feet while I talk to Nancy about what we need."

Fiona watched Madeline work her trademark magic as she steered Nancy over towards the most expensive stroller and accessories that she could find. Sighing heavily she made her way over towards the shop window and sat on the ledge to look at the passing shoppers that walked by, all of them oblivious to her discomfort.

A bang on the window caused her to jump and she looked up to see what had made the noise. The fierce eyes she saw were one's that she would never forget, and as she stood, her hands automatically went to her enlarged stomach.

Matthew Taylor, the young teenager who had robbed from his whole neighbourhood and his own step mother, stood staring at her through the glass. Fiona remembered him with such clarity that the anger she'd felt since being dragged out to the mall resurfaced as she poured every part of her aggravation onto him.

"I did time because of you, _BITCH_" he growled as he headed towards the open doorway.

Without batting an eye, Fiona reached into her bag and wrapped her hands around the handle of her Taser when he came towards her. He moved quicker than she's anticipated, shoving her backwards. As she stumbled, she pulled the Taser out of the bag and slammed it into the side of his neck, causing him to let off a scream. His hands flew out and knocked Fiona onto the floor with a heavy thump, leaving her stunned as he squirmed before her.

"Oh my god," Madeline yelled frantically and rushed over to Fiona's side, sitting down onto the floor beside her. "Honey, are you okay?"

Fiona tore her eyes away from the unconscious form of Matthew Taylor and nodded. She looked down at the Taser lying next to his body, motioning for Madeline to snatch it up before the security arrived.

"Help me up," she pleaded quietly, holding onto Madeline's arms for support. "I need to go home."

"You need to give a statement," Madeline told her as she helped her to stand. "That little sleeze bag deliberately tried to hurt you."

"No…I need—" gasping in a breath, she gripped Madeline's hands and sank back down onto her knees. "Arghhh…" she hissed through clenched teeth.

"Fi—"

"I _need_ to go _home," _Fiona's voice came out on a groan as she tried to stand up again. "NOW."

"Okay," Madeline told her urgently and helped her step over the prone body on the floor. Nancy was already on the phone to security when Madeline guided Fiona out towards the door. "I have to get her home," she told the worried woman. "Tell the police his name is Matthew Taylor and he likes robbing old ladies and hurting pregnant women…"

"I am so sorry that this happened to you here," Nancy implored, directing her gaze towards Fiona. "If there's anything you need—"

"I NEED to leave," Fiona gasped in another breath and leant against the window for support. Her hand flew down to her stomach and splayed heat over the tightness that contorted her body. She prayed that these were fake pains, she still had four weeks to go and Michael wasn't here.

"Okay honey," Madeline soothed, gliding a hand over her shoulders. She turned back towards Nancy who was looking paler by the second. "And to think we almost brought a stroller from here."

"Oh…I have your address…I'll talk to my boss…"

"_MADELINE_," Fiona ground her teeth and pulled the older woman out of the door with urgency. "I _NEED_ to _LEAVE_."

Madeline shot a discreet nod towards the young blonde assistant before leaving the shop and guiding Fiona to the parking lot as quickly as possible…

tbc


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thank you once again for all of your reviews, PM's and words of encouragement. I know I always say this, but I really do appreciate every review that you lovely people take the time to send me.**

**This is the penultimate chapter in what was only going to be a 5 chapter story! I'd like to warn everyone before you read this chapter that it contains scenes of labour and childbirth, nothing graphic, but consider yourself warned. I think I've gone a little more OOC than normal with this one**

**I'd like to send special thanks to the fantastic WIWJ for her very kind permission for me to use a name that she used for her "Fairwells"/"Extracted" universe. If you haven't read them yet then please go and read. Everything she writes is just pure magic. You won't be disappointed.**

**Lastly special thanks to two very special ladies, Purdy's Pal and DaisyDay. Words can not describe how special you both are to me.**

11

Fiona drew in a ragged breath when the car came to a stop outside the new house. Madeline turned her head to regard the younger woman worriedly as she squirmed in the passenger seat.

"I'm going to call Sam and we'll get you inside, okay," she told her softly, reaching over to run her hand over her arm. "It's going to be okay."

Fiona shook her head and slammed her eyes shut. Her breath was coming out in raggedy gasps as her body contorted uncomfortably.

"I…I need…arghhhh," groaning loudly she pulled herself forward and rested her head on the side window, trying to let the coolness of the glass ease the heat raging throughout her body. "It's too early…" she gasped, her voice catching on a sob. "I can't …have… her yet…"

"Honey, babies tend to come when they want to, and right now, she wants to." Opening the door, Madeline climbed out of the car and rushed over to the front door, pushing it open with a loud bang as she screamed Sam's name.

By the time he hurried out to the see what the commotion was, Fiona was already out of the car and leaning over the hood, breathing rapidly. Madeline moved to stand beside her and placed an arm around her intending to help but Fiona just shook her head rapidly and groaned out a long drawn out moan.

"Tell me when the contraction ends," Madeline told her gently, rubbing the palm of her hand over her back. "It's going to be okay sweetheart."

Sam started to panic when he saw Fiona in so much pain. He knew childbirth was a painful time for women but he'd never witnessed it first hand. It scared him to see the usually strong young woman hunched over onto the car and unable to move. Reaching into his pocket he fumbled with his cell phone and scrolled through the phone book until he found Peter Manson's number and hit dial.

Back at the car, Fiona let out a long breath and turned towards Madeline with a relieved nod of her head, "Okay," she managed shakily before she leaned on the older woman and began the slow walk towards the house.

"Slow steps honey," Madeline told her encouragingly, walking her through the doorway. Fiona nodded and tried to smile, but she was terrified. She didn't want to do this alone, despite how many times she'd tried to convince herself that she would be absolutely fine.

"Peter will be here in a couple of hours, but he said if they get at least five minutes apart to call him and he'll get here as soon as he can," Sam told the two women anxiously as he paced back and forth holding his cell phone to his ear. He closed his eyes with frustration when he connected to Michael's voice mail once again. With a groan he waited for the beep of the recording and lowered his voice. "Fi's in labour Mikey, call as soon as you get this. Or better still get your _ass_ here _RIGHT NOW_."

Closing off the phone, Sam threw it onto the sofa before hurrying towards one of the bedrooms where Madeline had taken Fiona. He got there just in time to see Madeline pulling off Fiona's shoes and helping her sit back onto the bed.

"I'll go and wait for Mike to call," he suggested nervously, wanting to be as far away from the two women as possible. Moving swiftly towards the door he looked back briefly over his shoulder before making a quick exit. "I'll be outside if you need me."

Fiona watched him practically run from the room and shook her head with amusement. She couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for him.

"It's going to be a while yet Fi," Madeline told her as she reached out to push a clump of damp hair away from her face. "Do you want me to draw you a bath? It'll make you feel better."

Fiona looked down at her swollen ankles and drew out a long shaky breath. "Yeah," she nodded slowly. "Thanks Madeline."

"No problem honey," the older woman beamed a smile down at her and smoothed the palm of her hand over her clammy cheek. "Everything's going to be okay."

"I hope so," Fiona's eyes flittered around worriedly, coming to settle on the stack of new folded baby clothes that were piled neatly on the dresser. "I haven't even sorted anything out for her…she wasn't supposed to be here yet…"

"You'll have plenty of time to do that, Fi," Madeline told her gently. "Just sit down for a few minutes while I start the water running. Have you got anything comfortable you want to wear while you're having her?"

Fiona's gaze shot to the other woman's, her eyes widening with dismay. Shaking her head she closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath to calm her raging heartbeat. When she opened her eyes again she nodded towards the drawers beside the bed.

"I'll wear one of Michael's t-shirts."

"Fi," Madeline stepped closer towards her and held firmly onto her shoulders. "I know it's scary the first time, but by the time it's all over and you have that baby in your arms; you won't remember any of this."

"Are you sure about that?" Fiona asked with a small smile. "According to my mother she remembered every detail about all of us and what we put her through! Especially my brother Patrick's big hard head!"

"Well, you remember it _after_," Madeline grinned. "But not right away."

Pushing herself forward, Fiona took a breath and got to her feet when Madeline stepped away from her side. Leaning over towards Michael's dresser drawers she pulled one open and rummaged inside until she found one of her favourite t-shirts and placed it onto the bed.

"Right, I'll start getting your bath ready," Madeline told her with a proud smile as she turned to walk towards the en-suite bathroom. "Come in when you're ready honey."

When Sam came back into the room twenty minutes later, Fiona was sitting on the side of the bed, wearing one of Michael's t-shirts and towel drying her hair. Madeline was sorting through the pile of tiny pink outfits and holding them up for Fiona's approval. The room had an air of calm about it which unnerved him even more.

"Okay, what do we need?" he asked quickly, his voice rising in pitch nervously. "Clean towels, hot water… I'll get the Camera…" he turned around so fast that he crashed into the door frame and caused a large bump to form over his forehead. "Jeeze," he moaned, clamping the palm of his hand over his head just as Fiona shifted backwards and groaned.

"What is it?" he asked frantically, his injury already forgotten. He came over towards the bed and stood a short distance away, not knowing what to say. "You wanna hold my hand or something?"

Both women stopped what they were doing and stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. Madeline couldn't help but chuckle softly when he started to pace, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.

"Anyone would think this was your baby!"

"That is not funny, Maddie," Sam huffed.

Fiona looked at the pair of them and started to shift forward, pulling herself off of the mattress to stand up beside the bed and lift the edges of the duvet cover, giving it a tug.

"Fiona," Madeline gasped. "What are you doing?"

"I am not ruining my new linens," she protested. "It took me weeks to find the right ones to go with this room…I am not havi—" her voice broke off into a gasp and she leant forward over the bed and slowly sank down to her knees. She grabbed a handful of the duvet in her hands, clenching the material so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She leaned into the cover, burying her face into it and let out a muffled wail that set Sam off pacing again.

"I'm gonna try Mikey again," he told them quickly and turned on his heel to race out of the room.

Madeline leaned in closer and rubbed her lower back. She could feel Fiona's contorted muscles straining in spasms beneath her hands. All the while she spoke soft words of encouragement, hoping to ease the younger woman's anguished cries.

"It's going to be okay," she soothed. "They're every twenty-five minutes, so it'll be a while yet. You're doing great."

Fiona lifted her head and ran a shaky hand over her sweat soaked forehead. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes clamped tightly shut as tried to stop the small whimpers from leaving her lips.

"It's okay to scream," Madeline told her softly as she continued to rub her back. "Yell, swear, scream…it'll make you feel better."

"I…want Michael…here…" she panted as she tried to catch her breath. "He should…be here…"

"I know," Madeline told her soothingly. "Sam's trying to call him now. He'll be here honey. He wouldn't miss this for anything."

Her words were lost through Fiona's feral cry as the contraction ripped through her body, leaving her gasping for breath until the pain eased away again after a few minutes and she couldn't stop her whole body from shaking when she tried to move.

"Oh goooood," she breathed in a ragged breath as she slowly climbed back to her feet again, her legs feeling like jelly. Gripping the duvet she started to pull the material until Madeline reached out to still her hands, batting them away to yank the cover and bottom sheet off of the bed in one movement and throwing them onto the floor.

"There," she told her. "They're off. Satisfied now?"

"No," Fiona snapped angrily through gritted teeth. "This is a new bed…I'm going to ruin the mattress…"

"Okay," Madeline sighed heavily and moved over towards the closet to find the discarded plastic wrappings that had covered the new mattress and pulled it over to the bed, flattening the plastic over the surface. "Where do you keep your old sheets?"

"They're in the closet on the top shelf," Fiona stood back upright and watched as Madeline took charge and marched across to the shelves inside to pull out a folded grey sheet and brought it back to the bed.

Holding on to the corners, Madeline skilfully tossed the sheet in the air until the sheet flittered down over the plastic sheeting, covering the mattress in a blanket of grey.

"There, now sit," she ordered, keeping her movements gentle as she manoeuvred the younger woman back onto the bed.

Fiona did as she was told and sat back against the headboard, watching Madeline affectionately as she smoothed the sheets down and tucked them under the mattress.

"Thank you Madeline."

Fiona's small voice stopped her movements and when she turned to tell her that it was normal to be irritable, the helpless look in Fiona's eyes brought her over to sit beside her. Taking hold of her hand, Madeline squeezed her fingers and patted her hand.

"It's okay sweetheart," she smiled. "You'll be yelling abuse to anyone who looks at you when the contractions get worse."

"They get worse?" Fiona gasped dramatically and leaned her head backwards. "I swear I'm gonna kill Michael if he doesn't get back here soon."

"I believe you," Madeline told her with a bright smile. "I need a cigarette. Will you be okay for a few minutes?"

"I'll be fine," Fiona told her reassuringly. "Go…can you bring a bottle of water in with you when you come back?"

"Sure," Madeline told her with a smile as she left the room.

000

Two hours later and the calmness in the room had all but vanished as Fiona groaned in pain when another gripping contraction ripped through her body. Madeline sat by her side, her knuckles turning white when Fiona crushed her hand as the pain bore through her. She laid on the bed, now in full blown labour, her body contorting on the bed as she lifted her legs only to drop them back down onto the bed again.

"Breathe through it honey," Madeline soothed as she reached for the cool washcloth and laid it over her forehead, letting the water droplets trickle down into her already damp hair.

"Wh…where's…Michael…?" Fiona gasped on a sob a when the pain started to dip again, allowing her to catch her breath.

"He'll be here," Madeline told her reassuringly as she picked up the wash cloth from her forehead and wiped it over Fiona's clammy face.

"You said that _hours_ ago," Fiona's voice caught in between a groan and a sob as she untangled Madeline's hand from her own and struggled to sit up. "I need…him…here…"

"I know baby," Madeline's voice caught in her throat when she tried to keep the welling emotion from her voice. Reaching out a hand she smoothed her fingers over Fiona's glistening forehead. "Soon, he'll be here. I promise."

"I need my…phone," Fiona growled angrily, her face wet with perspiration. "I'm going… to call him and tell him…what a bastard…he is…"

"You can tell him when he gets here," Madeline told her with a small chuckle as she held a bottle of water out to her. "I'll help you. We'll do it together."

Fiona huffed a deep breath when she managed to pull herself up onto her elbows and take the offered water that Madeline held to her. She took a long sip, swallowing down the cool liquid gratefully before handing the bottle back to Madeline's waiting hand.

"I'm so tired," she moaned miserably, laying back into the pillows with a frustrated groan. "I want…this…_thing _outta me…"

"Close your eyes for a few minutes," Madeline told her, keeping her voice as gentle as she could. "Rest between the contractions."

The bedroom door opened slowly and Peter Manson stepped into the room carrying his medical bag.

"How are we doing?" He asked cheerily when he moved over towards the bed. "How far apart are the contractions?"

"They're coming every ten min—" Madeline started to say but stopped when Fiona gripped onto her hand again and started to groan when the pain of another powerful contractions started to build up through her abdomen. She squeezed down on Madeline's hand hard, and let out a sound that was somewhere between a sob and a scream. She squirmed around the bed, lifting her legs and dropping them again as her free hand groped at her stomach, flattening her palm to try and use the heat to ease the pain.

"Can't you give her something?" Madeline asked him desperately. "She's been in labour for seven hours. "She's exhausted."

"No…" Fiona wheezed through the pain. "No…drugs…"

"But Fi—"

"NO…drugs…"

Peter placed his bag onto the floor and pulled out a pair of latex gloves, snapping them onto his hands before sitting onto the edge of the bed.

"Tell me when the contraction ends and we'll see how far along you are," he directed his voice towards Fiona who had shifted onto her side and yanked her hand away from Madeline's, to place it onto her stomach with her other one.

She was breathing and sobbing both at the same time, squirming on the bed until the peak of the contraction started to ebb away, letting her breathing fan out.

"You better do it now," she groaned, letting her hands drop from her stomach. She didn't resist when the doctor parted her knees and started his examination; all she wanted was for this to be over. She winced when he examined her further and laid her head back into the pillows until he had finished.

"You're six centimetre's," he told her with a knowing smile. "You're almost there now."

Taking off his gloves he put them into a plastic bag and sealed the top before going into the bathroom to wash his hands.

"Can you help me to…move," Fiona asked tiredly when Madeline reached out to help her kneel onto the bed. Shuffling forward, Fiona reached out her hands and wrapped her fingers around the metal bed frame and manoeuvred her body into a more comfortable position. Nodding her head to Madeline's offer of water, she smiled through her exhaustion to take the water from her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Madeline told her tearfully. Reaching up a hand to swipe at her eyes, she offered Fiona a reassuring smile. "You're doing great sweetheart."

000

Three hours later Sam paced back and forth outside the bedroom door as Fiona's painful screams filled the air. He was terrified for her, and he was becoming more and more frantic by every passing second. The phone in his hand began vibrating and he snatched it up quickly, looking at the caller ID. Holding the phone to his ear he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mikey, where the hell are you brother? You need to get here."

"_We're pulling up to the house now, Sam_." Michael's voice came through the crackling line and Sam had to strain to hear him. "_Jesse broke all kinds of traffic violations. How's Fi?"_

"Not good Mike," Sam's voice shook as he spoke. "It sounds bad in there. Your mom and Pete are in with her…hang on," he gasped in a breath when the door opened and Madeline came outside. "Your mom's here, I'll give her the phone."

Thrusting the phone towards Madeline who just stared at it numbly, Sam stood back and ran a worried hand through his hair. The screams had died down into silence again and he didn't know if that was good or bad. He couldn't ever remember being this terrified before in his whole life.

The door flew open and Michael charged through, throwing his bags and coat onto the floor not caring where they landed. Madeline reached out to him as he started past her, stopping him before he got to the bedroom door.

Madeline's eyes filled with emotion as she squeezed his arm. "You should be so proud of her honey, she's done so well."

"Thanks Ma," he told her with a watery smile as he bent down to press a kiss to her cheek before heading towards the closed bedroom door.

Fiona's head snapped up when he came through the door. Her whole face was contorted with pain as she sobbed out his name, bringing him to her side in one swift movement.

"Where the HELL have you been?" she groaned out as she grasped his waiting hand. "You said…you'd be here…"

"I'm here now," he told her quickly, reaching out to wrap his arms around her. "I'm here…breathe…."

"They're too fast," she groaned when another wave of pain slowly subsided.

"Michael...I...argghh—" taking a breath Fiona tried holding her hands over her stomach, hoping that the heat would ease the pain this time but nothing was helping. Clamping her jaw shut she squeezed her eyes closed and tried to breathe through her nose but the pain was getting stronger with each passing contraction leaving her almost no time to recover.

She shifted her legs uncomfortably, modesty long forgotten as the pain began to slowly get worse and worse as time went on.

Michael stroked her hair as he sat by her side, massaging her lower back when another contractions gripped her body and he found himself leaning forward wrapping his hands around one of hers while he continued to massage with the other.

"Oh god," she breathed, "here comes another one." She scrunched up her face in pain, trying to even out her breath, but it was becoming difficult to even breathe.

Michael held his breath when his knuckles turned white. Fiona was squeezing his hand so hard that he lost the feeling in his fingers, but he didn't care. He just needed to stop the pain for her. He felt so helpless when all he wanted to do was take the pain away from her.

."Tell me when the contraction has eased Fiona and we'll have a look to see how far you've dilated okay?" Peter told her as he pulled on a new latex glove.

"k," Fiona nodded through clenched teeth, letting out a slow breath as the contraction started to die away.

"You'd better do it now," she mumbled tiredly "they're coming so fast."

"That's good Fiona the strong ones work the best," he smiled as she came to examine her quickly before another contraction overtook her body again. "You're a solid 8 only 2 more to go."

She panted heavily as the pain ripped through her insides, so strong it took her breath away making it hard for her to breathe.

"Lean on me," Michael told her desperately, dipping his shoulders so that she could loop her joined hands around his neck. Moving up slightly he lifted her so that the pressure left her back, providing her with a little relief until another strong contraction gripped her.

"I wanna push," she managed to groan as the overwhelming urge took her over, causing her teeth to clench as she moaned loudly.

"Not yet," Peter soothed. "Let's just have a look."

He didn't get to finish as another contraction came in the wake of the first, taking over Fiona's body like something possessed. She squeezed Michael's neck hard and groaned painfully, her voice breaking on a sob.

"I want to go the loft."

"Fi, it's okay," he felt his voice breaking when he leaned back and saw the pain in her eyes. He'd never felt so helpless in his whole life.

"It's not okay," she sobbed into him. "I want to go to the loft. I don't want to do this anymore."

"It won't be long now," he told her gently, holding her close to him as much as he could.

"They said that _hours_ ago," she told him angrily, only to sob his name as another powerful wave overtook her body.

The doctor bent to examine her again, trying to be as gentle as he could.

"Okay Fiona that last contraction did the job, so on the next contraction I want you to take a deep breath and push down for me."

"Did you hear that Fi?" Michael said softly, rubbing her back gently as he helped her into a more comfortable position. When she was back on the bed, laying half on her back and half sitting, he stood up to let the doctor move to the other side of the bed only to have Fiona's panic stricken eyes darting to his face.

"_Michael_?"

"It's okay, I'm here," he told her, moving quickly back to her side. He saw her breathing coming erratically again as he held onto her tightly as she gripped his hand hard with the contraction, groaning through her teeth as she pushed.

"That's good Fiona," the doctor told her encouragingly when she pushed hard again.

One contraction followed another until half an hour later a baby's cries erupted into the room to mingle with relieved sobs and triumphant cries from the people in the room outside.

Fiona fell backwards onto the pillows exhausted as the doctor lifted their daughter and laid her onto her chest.

Michael couldn't keep the welling tears from falling from his eyes as he leaned over their baby to kiss Fiona first on the forehead and then her lips, before leaning down to kiss their little daughter's head.

"She's so beautiful," Fiona sobbed, reaching up to him to tangle her fingers around his. "Look at her…"

"She's perfect," he nodded through a haze of emotion before he leant down to kiss Fiona again, whispering over and over how much he loved her.

A few minutes later after Peter cut the cord, cleaned her up and weighed her, he handed Michael a tiny disposable diaper and watched in amusement when the new father looked at it like some kind of unexploded bomb.

"You'll have to learn quickly," Peter told him, chuckling at Michael's discomfort. "I need to check your wife over now."

Michael just nodded at him and pulled the diaper open and got to grips with putting it on his daughter. When he managed to get it secured onto his little girl he grinned triumphantly and lifted the tiny pink romper suit, looking at it with much the same puzzlement as the diaper.

"Okay," he sighed, looking at the poppers and then the baby. "Let's do this."

000

Half an hour later, Fiona had showered and changed while Michael had called his mother in to meet her granddaughter, placing the tiny baby in her arms while he stripped the bed and remade it. When Fiona walked slowly back towards the bed, she cast Madeline a heartfelt smile.

Michael waited for her to settle under the covers and helped her sit back against the pillows before lifting their new baby daughter from her grandmother and placed her in her mother's arms.

Fiona gazed down at her for a long time; mesmerized by the love she felt bursting from her heart. She gazed up at Michael again, feeling that same love flowing from his eyes as he leaned down to lift his baby daughter into his arms while Fiona made herself a little more comfortable.

Madeline got up from the chair and walked over towards Fiona, holding out her hand to the younger woman who leaned forward to pull her into a tight embrace. Both women sniffed back tears when Madeline pulled away to place a soft kiss onto her forehead.

"I am so proud of you sweetheart," Madeline told her with a bright smile.

"I couldn't have got through it without you," Fiona told her, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears. "Thank you for being here with me."

"Oh honey, I love you. Where else would I be?" Madeline told her tearfully. "Now get some rest okay, I'm going to do the same."

Squeezing Fiona's hand one more time she turned to her son who was gazing down at the baby in his arms with what she could only describe as complete devotion. She rubbed her hand against his arm and reached up to place a kiss onto his cheek then leant over him to kiss her little granddaughter, before leaving the room.

Michael was speechless; he didn't know what to say anymore. He had fallen in love with this little baby the instant he knew she existed and even more so now that she was here. His eyes left her face to gaze down to her mother's who was looking tired but extremely happy. She was gazing up at him with tears in her eyes as she watched him.

"She's got your chin," he whispered as he came to sit down beside her on the bed, leaning over to kiss her lips, "and your nose."

"Michael," Fiona whispered as she leant against his arm to look over at their sleeping daughter. "I know we were only going to keep with one name for her, but I want to give her your mother's name. She was amazing…"

"What do you think Claire?" Michael asked his baby daughter as he watched her tiny mouth open and close. "I think she likes it."

Claire started to wriggle in his arms and make small noises as she pushed against him and he took that as his cue to hand her back to her mother.

Fiona smiled up at him adoringly and settled Claire against her breast, closing her eyes briefly when she leaned back against the pillows. Michael shuffled closer to sit down beside her and watched the scene before him in wonderment. He didn't think there could be anything in the world right now that could pull him away from his new family.

When Claire fell back to sleep again, Fiona handed her to Michael and offered him a tired smile.

"Michael, I think it's time we introduced her to her new family," she told him dreamily.

Michael felt as if he was floating on air as he cradled his daughter against his chest and moved to open the bedroom door and out to where Claire's new family were waiting to meet her

TBC in the final chapter


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thank you to all of you who have reviewed, sent PM's and favoured this story and the prequel over the last weeks. I hope you all enjoy the final chapter.**

**Thank you to Purdy's Pal for looking over the first few pages of this for me**

12

The three people waiting in the family room looked up when Michael walked in with his infant daughter cradled in his arms.

"Mike," Sam's voice came out in a hushed whisper as he swallowed heavily when he glimpsed a head of dark hair. He was suddenly overcome with an emotion he'd never felt before and he tried desperately to control his watering eyes.

Madeline rested one of her hands on Sam's shoulder as she tried to help him hold himself together. It had been rough for him when Fiona was in labour; she knew that he cared about the young woman more than he'd ever admit. And now, as he started wiping at his eyes and coughing away the lump in his throat, she couldn't help but feel so much adoration for her extended family.

"Guys," Michael told them in a hushed voice as he tore his eyes away from his daughter's sleeping face. "Come say hello to Claire."

"Claire?" Sam asked in a rasped voice as he broke away from Madeline to gain a closer look at the baby. "After Fi's sister?"

Michael nodded and met his friend's glazed eyes. "Yeah."

"I didn't know Fi had a sister," Madeline whispered, as she stepped closer towards Michael and held out her arms.

Michael regarded her fondly before he relinquished his hold on Claire to reluctantly pass her over to her grandmother.

"Well, I bet when her aunt sees her she's going to be very proud," Madeline beamed a smile down at the baby and bent to kiss her head.

"She died a long time ago, Ma," Michael told her softly, keeping his voice low as he moved them all away from the open bedroom door.

"Oh honey, I didn't know. Fi never speaks about her." Shifting the baby to a more comfortable position, Madeline held her close to her chest and started to rock her back and forth.

"She doesn't like to talk about it," Michael all but whispered as he held his fingers out to his daughter to gently stroke her hair before glancing up at his mother who was still gazing down at the baby in her arms. "She's named after you, too, you know."

Madeline's head snapped up and regarded him with an awestruck expression. "Me?"

"Yeah, her name is Claire Madeline," he told her, unable to contain the smile that split his face in two.

Madeline's face was one big smile and for once she was lost for words. Seeing her struggling, Sam saw this as his cue to step in and steal the baby from her, but before he could open his mouth he was interrupted.

"Does that mean if she was a boy you'd have called her Sam?" a gruff voice spoke up from the other side of the room, and all three people looked towards Jesse who was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "I'm just saying!"

"You'd have to ask Fi about that," Michael laughed. "She's in charge when it comes to baby name's."

"And here I was thinking I was special," Sam huffed indignantly. Moving over towards Madeline he held out his arms expectantly. "Pass her here Maddie, I want to hold my—"

"Niece?"

Everyone in the room turned towards the open doorway and saw Fiona leaning against the frame looking extremely exhausted but more radiant than she had ever looked before.

"Fi," Michael was by her side in a second, rubbing his hand over her arm. "You're supposed to be in bed."

"Michael I have been in that room for over twelve hours," she told him with a determined smile. "And besides, I'm not sitting in bed on my own when my whole family is out here."

"Okay," he smiled down at her as he slipped his arm around her shoulders, letting her lean on him for support while he walked her slowly over towards the sofa. All the time he held on to her he watched her face for any signs of discomfort, but all she did when he helped her to sit down was wince a little until she placed herself in a more comfortable position.

"Do you want me to get you anything?" he asked her, trying not to let her see the worry in his eyes.

"No, I'm fine," she told him, her hand still grasping his until he took the hint and sat down beside her.

"Fi," Sam's voice was wavering when he came to perch on the arm of the sofa to lay a warm hand on her shoulder. He was relieved to see her, even though he would never openly admit it, at least not to her. "How are you feeling?"

Fiona regarded him fondly as she offered him a tired smile. "Do you really want to know?" At his insistent nod, she grinned up at him despite her fatigue. "Like I've just given birth to an elephant!"

"Ouch," Sam scrunched up his face and hissed out through his lips. "Well, you did a good job Fi. She's a beauty."

"Sam, you sound like you're describing a horse!" Madeline exclaimed, and then changed her tone instantly to an order. "Now sit down properly if you want to hold my granddaughter."

Sam huffed and looked to Michael and Fiona for support, but the two of them were in their own world as they now sat closely together in the corner of the sofa, watching their daughter with intensity.

With a heavy sigh, Sam slipped back against the cushions and took the baby, surprised at how heavy she felt in his arms.

"Wow, you're a heavy girl aren't you? How much did she weigh?" he grinned down at Claire who was still sleeping peacefully, oblivious to the adults in the room. He glanced over at Fiona who was laid against Michael's chest trying really hard not to let her eyes close. She looked exhausted.

"Seven pound exactly," Michael told him as his eyes skimmed over Claire's tiny form before coming up to meet his friend's gaze with a proud smile.

Sam caught Michael's eyes and inclined his head towards Fiona who had lost her battle and succumbed to sleep, albeit how brief it may be. Michael glanced down at Fiona's face and smiled. His hand came up to slide over her shoulders as he bent his head to kiss her forehead.

Her eyes slowly opened and she smiled up at him sleepily. She was sore and she hurt in places that she never even knew she had, but nothing could take the complete elation away from her. Lifting her face she watched as his lips descended on her, placing a soft kiss onto her mouth. When he pulled away, he was gazing down at her with so much adoration, which caused sudden tears to spring to her eyes.

"We did it, didn't we?" She beamed a smile up at him before she lifted her head from his chest to reach out to her daughter nestled against Sam, and ran her fingers over her tiny hands, instantly feeling the need to hold her. "I can't believe she's here."

"_You_ did it Fi," he told her proudly. He couldn't fathom the powerful surge of emotions that were coursing through him. He hadn't expected to feel this way, to feel so much love directed not only at the woman nestled in his embrace, but for the new life they had both created. And for those few precious moments he ached to have his baby girl back in his arms.

He watched intently when Sam stood up with his daughter and took her over towards Jesse who had kept his distance and hadn't joined the small group. They were talking in hushed whispers while Sam started to rock back and forth unconsciously.

A squeeze on his fingers brought his eyes back down to the woman beside him. She was watching him with a knowing gaze and he suddenly found himself blushing under her intensity.

"She's with her family," she told him softly. "She's a lucky little girl."

"Yeah," he nodded wistfully. "I'm going to have a hard time getting her back from

those two."

Fiona followed his eyes and couldn't help but smile at Jesse who was holding Claire as if she was going to explode in his arms. He was trying to smile but it came out as more of a grimace and after only a minute or two he thrust the baby back at Sam.

"Here you go sweetheart," Madeline's voice broke through her thoughts and she looked up to see her 'mother in law' holding out a glass of iced tea to her. "Are you hungry?"

Fiona took the offered tea, handing it to Michael who put it on the small table beside the sofa. She shook her head with a tired smile. "No thanks Madeline, I think I'm too tired to eat."

"I know," Madeline told her warmly. "I'm going to take the boys home so you can some rest."

"You don't have to go," Fiona started to protest but her words caught on a yawn and she quickly put her hand over her face.

"That's our cue to leave." Looking behind her, Madeline called Sam and Jesse's names in a hushed whisper bringing them back to her side.

"Thanks for everything ma," Michael told her as he eased his arm away from Fiona and started to move but his mother held up a hand to stop him.

"You stay where you are, we'll let ourselves out. You just take care of your family," she told him with a proud smile. "I haven't had time to call your brother yet, but I'll do that as soon as I get home."

"Madeline…" Fiona started but she didn't know what she could possibly say to the woman who had become more like a mother to her over the past few years. Whatever she had tried to say was instantly understood and it took only a few seconds for Madeline to come to the sofa to sit down beside her.

"You're welcome sweetheart," she told her with a watery smile. "You've given me so much…Claire's the first girl to be born into the family since…" Madeline's voice trailed away but Fiona reached out and squeezed her hand.

Inching forward, Madeline pressed a soft kiss on Fiona's cheek before reaching up a hand to pat the side of her face affectionately. "You made me really proud today sweetheart, don't ever forget that."

Sam made his way over towards the sofa and found himself looking down at the child he held in his arms once more ready to reluctantly relinquish her back to her parents. Before he could move, the baby started to move against him, pushing her tiny hand up and over the small pink shawl she was wrapped in.

"Hey now," Sam soothed when Claire's face scrunched up as she whimpered. He watched her eyes slowly open and was amazed by how dark they were. This little girl stole his heart in that one second and he knew he would never let anyone get near enough to hurt her, ever. "It's okay little darlin' your mommy's right here."

Holding Claire up a little closer he bent to kiss her head before bending to carefully place the baby into her mother's waiting arms and stepped back to watch the new family settle back against the sofa cushions.

Madeline placed her hand on Sam's shoulder and offered him a smile when she stood up to stand beside him.

"We'll see you sometime tomorrow," she told them, not expecting a reply.

Michael's voice surprised her when he tore himself away from Fiona and Claire. Coming towards her he pulled her into a lose embrace before pulling back just as quickly.

"Thank you…all of you…I…"

"No problem Mikey," Sam reached out a hand and slapped Michael on the back. "Congratulations brother."

"Yeah, congrats man," Jesse called out from his place at the door, still feeling a little like a third wheel when it came to team Westen."

"Jesse get over here," Michael told him with a grin as he held out his hand, shaking it firmly when Jesse smiled. "You got me here in time to see my daughter's birth. I owe you."

"Well, in that case I guess we're even," Jesse told him gleefully. "For me shooting you an all…"

"Already forgotten," Michael nodded.

"Take care of your girl's Mike," Jesse told him seriously as he headed towards the door, following Sam and Madeline outside.

"Thanks guys," Michael called out and waved a hand before closing and locking the door. Turning back around he stopped in his tracks and a lump formed in his throat when he saw Fiona feeding Claire. He was overcome with so many different emotions that he couldn't even put a name to any one of them.

Silently he made his way back towards them and perched on the edge of the sofa lifting a hand to stroke Claire's soft hair before sitting back to put an arm around the woman he loved, holding her secure against him.

"I love you," he told her suddenly, unable to keep the words inside any longer.

Fiona smiled up at him and lifted her head to steal a kiss from him. "I love you."

When their lips parted both of them returned to gaze down at their baby girl who had stopped feeding and fallen back to sleep with his mouth open.

Fiona carefully lifted her upwards onto her knees and supported her head while she rubbed her back.

When Claire had settled back down again, Michael moved off of the sofa to gently take her from her mother's embrace and held her against his shoulder while he carried her back into the bedroom to place her into her bassinette.

When he turned back around to go back to help Fiona, she was already at the doorway, taking slow steps towards him.

"Slow down," he told her quickly as he met her half way. "You're supposed to be taking it easy."

"I am," she told him with a smile. "I just need you to do something for me before everything around here gets crazy."

"Anything," he told her, stepping up towards her when she reached for him. Moving closer he slipped his arms around her and pulled her close against his body, something he hadn't been able to do for the last few months.

Fiona closed her eyes and breathed him in, tightening her arms so that he held her closer. Tears brimmed in her eyes when she felt everything from the last few hours bombard her senses, causing her to cling to him helplessly.

"Don't let me go," she whispered against his chest, "I need to feel you."

"I'm here," he told her placing kisses into her hair. "I'm not going anywhere…"

"I missed you, so much," she sighed into his chest and groaned against him when the pressures of giving birth were weighing heavy on her lower body . "Can we sit down? I feel like my insides are falling out…"

He moved away from her and slipped an arm back around her shoulders to help her over towards their bed. He kept his movements deliberately slow and waited until she was settled back into the pillows before walking towards Claire's bassinette, bringing it closer beside the bed.

He peeked in at the sleeping infant, once again losing his heart to her. Reaching in he moved to pull her covers over her sleeping form and tucked them around her securely. When he turned to sit on the edge of the bed he wrapped his fingers around Fiona's as they both gazed down at their sleeping child.

"Can you believe we made her?" She asked him wistfully. "She's ours, Michael. Yours and mine…"

"I know," he told her with awe, still not quite believing it. "I never thought I could feel this way about anyone, but you."

Taking one last look at Claire he turned away to climb into the bed beside Fiona, careful not to jolt the mattress when he lay down beside her.

"What did you need me to do, Fi?" he asked her then, suddenly remembering what she had said to him a short time ago.

"Hmmm?" she sighed against him as she settled against his chest and closed her eyes. "Just this…you're all I need…you and Claire…"

Michael smiled and buried his lips into her hair. "You have us," he told her, even though he already knew she had succumbed to her exhaustion. "Always…"

Epilogue

"Dadda…" Claire squealed loudly from where she was sat on the bed with her mother, clapping her hands together when her father came back into the bedroom from the bathroom.

"Hey," he grinned down at her with pure devotion and held out his arms to pull his fifteen month old daughter against his bare chest to spin her around.

"Well now you two are finally reunited, how about you let mommy catch up on a little sleep?" Fiona asked with a beaming smile as she laid back against the pillows and pulled the duvet back over her body. "You know, since you got me _pregnant_…"

"What?" Michael stopped spinning and kneeled down on the bed to put Claire down onto the mattress. "You're…"

Fiona sat back up and reached for him, pulling him into her for a firm kiss and yanking him down beside her. She kissed him again, running her hand over his bare torso before moving back to open her arms for Claire to crawl in between them.

Michael couldn't keep the elation from spilling over onto his face as he leaned up on one elbow to regard the two women in his life.

"How far?"

"Six weeks," Fiona told him with a smile as she handed Claire her favourite book to look at while she reached up a hand to spread her fingers over her husband's face. "So…"

"So?" he asked with a beaming smile. "I guess I should ask for assignments closer to home again?"

"I guess so," Fiona told him as she watched him. "What do you think?"

Michael stretched out his arm to run his fingers through his daughter's soft curls before slipping his hand to Fiona's body, splaying his digits over her still flat stomach.

"I'm thinking…we need a boy this time…I'm starting to feel a little outnumbered here!"

Fiona chuckled and reached out her arms to him, pulling him against her chest as they laid together and watched Claire play with her toys on the bed.

Life was good, Michael mused with a smile as he suddenly lunged for his daughter to lift her squealing form above his head before bringing her down to blow kisses onto her stomach.

The little girl giggled with delight and tried to crawl away from him but he caught her again to scoop her up into his arms when he climbed out of bed.

"I think we should let mommy stay in bed don't you Claire?" He asked his delighted daughter who was clinging to him and patting the palms of her tiny hands to his face.

She offered him a toothy grin that always guaranteed she got anything she wanted, and that was enough for Michael to swing her in the air again so that he could plant a string of kisses over her chubby face.

"Wave to mommy," he grinned at her as he lifted her to his shoulder when he carried her out of the room. "Let's go find some breakfast…"

Fiona waved back to Claire when they left the bedroom and laid back against the pillows for a few seconds before she reached for Michael's discarded shirt and slipped it on as she climbed out of the bed. It had been a wild ride over the last few years she mused as she followed the noises that were coming from the kitchen, but she wouldn't have changed it for the world…

The End

Thank you all so much for reading

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